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Prince John stumbled and went dov-n 

— p. 99. 



PAYING THE PRICE! 


BY 


HOPE DARING . 

Author of “A Virginian Holiday,” “Valadero Ranch,” 
“Father John,” “The Gordons,” etc., etc. 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 

PARK AVENUE AND FORTIETH STREET 
NEW YORK 


PZ3 

•T<^3 

To- 


Copyright, 1914, by 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 


DEC 191914 


©CI.A388S72 


TO 

THE SOUTHLAND 

with its sunny days and 
warm hearts 












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CONTENTS 


CHAPTER page 

I The Doctor’s Verdict 9 

II Rosalixd’s Letter 17 

III The Journey 25 

IV The Ancient City 37 

V Mrs. Morton’s Appeal 49 

VI At the Old Fort 60 

VII Wedding Preparations 70 

VIII Rosalind’s Wilfulness 79 

IX The Ride on Prince John 90 

X WiNTHROP House 100 

XI A Time of Suspense 110 

XII A Woman’s Cruelty 124 

XIII Anxious Days 136 

XIV An Afternoon on the Beach 145 

XV Christmas at Winthrop House 155 

XVI A Hard Fight 165 

XVI I Maurice’s Promise 173 

XVHI An Interview with Thomas Green .... 178 

XIX A Surprise 184 

XX The Old Story Retold 193 

XXI That Volume of Browning 202 

XXH The Overthrow of Green ... ... 213 

XXHI Maurice’s Way Out . . . . . . . . . 2125 


\ 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


CHAPTER I 

THE doctor’s verdict 

L ouise MORTON sat m Dr. Hunter’s recep- 
tion room waiting her turn for the summons 
to the inner office, shivering with a vague dread of 
the interview. What if the doctor should tell her 
that the thing she feared was true.? She could not 
bear that ! It w'as nearly half an hour before the 
three patients who preceded her were dismissed, and 
then at the call of the attendant she rose and passed 
into the doctor’s office. 

“ Ah, Louise ! Glad to see you,” and the phy- 
sician, who had been a friend of the Morton family 
before Louise’s birth, drew forward a chair for her. 
“ Why, w'hat’s w'rong.? There is a look of wild fear 
in your eyes.” 

Louise dropped into the chair. “ You saw mother 
this afteiTioon, Doctor Hunter.? ” 

“ So that is it 1 Child, there is no need for that 
look of fear, no immediate need. Your mother must 
have some things it may not be easy to make her 
take, but her life is not in danger, not if she can be 
persuaded to listen to us.” 

9 


10 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


The girl rested her head against the high back of 
the chair, shutting her eyes to keep back the tears 
that were so near. Doctor Hunter understood, and 
waited in silence until she leaned forward to 
speak. Her face was pale; the big black hat she 
wore was pushed back, and the afternoon sunset that 
crept in at a western window brought out gleams of 
copper and gold in the soft brown hair that the 
November wind had ruffled. 

“ How could I have been so blind. Doctor Hunter.? 
While I have known all the fall — yes, .and all the 
summer — that mother was not well, I never thought 
of her condition being serious until Aunt Clair came 
to visit us last week. She said — ” 

Doctor Hunter smiled a little grimly as the girl 
stopped. “ I see. Louise, I’ve often wondered that 
the Prayer Book did not contain a clause : ‘ From 

our relatives, good Lord, deliver us ! ’ Aunt Clair 
told you that your mother looked just like some of 
her husband’s relatives that died. Now don’t con- 
tradict me. I know — not your aunt, but the type.” 

A faint smile curved the girl’s lips as she said, 
“ I believe you do. She told me that mother was 
going into a decline, and that she did not know what 
I had been thinking about not to notice it. As soon 
as she was gone this morning, I telephoned you, ask- 
ing you to see mother.” 

“ I went in immediately after lunch, and my report 
is not serious. Your mother has never fully recov- 
ered her strength since that illness last March. She 
is weak and that annoying bronchial trouble is be- 


THE DOCTOR’S VERDICT 


11 


ginning to assert itself. It will not be wise for her 
to attempt staying here this winter; Florida is the 
place for her.” 

Louise started. “ Did you tell mother that, Doc- 
tor Hunter? ” 

“ Yes. She gave me an opportunity to do it 
naturally, for she said she dreaded the piercing au- 
tumnal winds so much that she had already begun 
to shut herself up in the house.” 

“ What did she say to your suggestion that she 
should go South ? ” 

“ At first she seemed to think that I w’as joking. 
When I pressed the matter she grew a little enthusi- 
astic over the warmth and the outdoors life possible 
there. Then she dismissed the project by saying, 
‘ It is almost too bad that Louise took the position 
in the Central Church choir. She cannot give it 
up, and, of course, Doctor Hunter, I could not go 
and leave her here.’ I cannot of course decide for 
you, but I will not guarantee your mother’s health in 
the spring if she spends the winter in Detroit.” 

There was a brief silence. The physician w^atched 
Louise closely. Her face was turned away, but he saw 
that her beautifully shaped hands — the hands of a 
musician — trembled as they rested on her lap. It 
was only a moment before she said in her usual 
voice, 

“ We w ill go at once. I think we can get off next 
week.” 

He leaned nearer as if he would read the girl’s 
heart, and said gently, “ Be frank with me, Louise. 


12 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Remember it is not so much jour family physician 
who asks this question as it is the friend of your 
dead father. Can you and your mother afford it? 

I mean can you afford to give up your position and 
go away for the winter? I know your mother’s in- 
come is enough for current expenses, but your musi- 
cal education cost money, and this will cost more. 
However, I can only repeat my assertion that your 
mother must not spend the winter here.” 

The girl’s eyes met his steadily. “ Yes, Doctor 
Hunter, we can afford it. While our income is only 
a small one, mother has managed so well that she has 
a couple of thousand dollars in the bank which she 
has always said were for a ‘ possible rainy day,’ and 
the money shall be used to give her back her health.” 

“ Now I am glad to hear that. Somehow I had 
imagined that your education took all the surplus.” 

“ That was not as expensive as you seem to think. 
You know mother moved to Washington for the two 
years I was in Madam Grand’s school. I was only 
a day pupil, living at home. My music lessons cost, 
though, and I have always hoped to earn back that 
money.” 

“ You wdll go with her? ” 

“ Certainly. She would not go without me, and 
she will need my care.” 

“But what of your position with the Central 
Church? And you are teaching the piano in a girls’ 
school, are you not? ” 

“ Only during a teacher’s absence ; she returns 
Saturday. I have been organizing a class of chil- 


THE DOCTOR’S VERDICT 


13 


dren among our acquaintance, but the lessons have 
not begun, so it will be easy to give up the plan. 
As for the church, you know. Doctor Hunter, it is 
our own church. When the music committee know 
that I ask a release from my engagement because of 
my mother’s health, it will be granted me cheerfully. 
In a city like this substitutes can easily be found 
until the place is filled permanently.” 

“ How coolly you talk about it, Louise ! And yet, 
two months ago when you told me of this engagement 
your voice sang just as your father’s used to do. 
You felt that it was the first step upward in your 
career.” 

Her face grew thoughtful. “ I was delighted, as 
you say. While I shall never be a great singer, I 
do want to make the most of my voice. Mother 
wants me to do that. But, if she needs me, nothing 
else matters.” 

“ I see,” and the man’s eyes kindled. “ I know 
Eugene Morton’s daughter pretty wdl, only I missed 
W'hat might be called the sense of position. I should 
have said you lived for music and your mother. It 
seems it is for your mother and music.” 

“ That is just it. We will go at once. Did you 
say Florida? ” 

“Yes. I would advise St. Augustine. I want 
your mother on the coast, and that place will be bet- 
ter for her than the extreme southern part of the 
State. If the climate agrees with her you must not 
think of coming home before the middle or last of 
April. What will you do about your apartment? ” 


.14 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ We rent only by the niontli. The furniture is 
ours, and we will have it .packed and stored.” 

“ But we are forgetting in all this planning that 
3'our mother has not yet given her consent to going.” 

“ She will when she understands it all. Doctor 
Hunter, you have been most kind, but please be a 
little franker with me. What do you fear for my 
mother Is it her lungs Doctor, I could not live 
Avithout her, I could not ! ” 

“ Do not say that, Louise ; we can endure what- 
ever our Heavenly Father sends us, if Ave are His 
children. As to your mother : her lungs are slightly 
Aveak, and that throat trouble may, if not corrected, 
lead to further complications. But I am positive 
that a Avinter away from here, and the care we can 
give her, will bring her back to her former health. 
I Avill come up and see her again to-morrow and see 
hoAv she takes our plans. Good-by.” 

Louise reached the street to find the brightness 
of the early afternoon obscured by dark clouds. As 
she Avent about the city, doing some errands, soft 
snowflakes began to caress her face. 

“ It’s real winter. What will it be like to flee 
from it to a land of summer AA'armth.^’ ” she asked 
herself. Then she sighed ; the change and the rea- 
son for it troubled her notwithstanding her assump- 
tion of courage. Suddenly she threw back her head 
Avith a confident little gesture that was habitual with 
her. “ I must be brave, I must have courage for ail 
that is before me. Mother’s health and happiness 


THE DOCTOR’S VERDICT 


15 


are going to depend largely on me in making this 
change, and I must not fail her.” 

In her earnestness she was unconsciously speak- 
ing aloud as she reached the apartment on the sec- 
ond floor of which she and her mother occupied a 
suite of pleasant rooms. 

As she entered the homelike parlor where her 
mother sat by a shaded electric lamp, a book in her 
lap, it was easy to see the resemblance between the 
two. Louise had her mother’s features and eyes, 
yet the daughter was stronger in all ways, more 
alive to life’s opportunities. The elder woman’s 
expression was gracious, serene, yet a single glance 
showed Louise that a slight, intangible shadow rested 
on the beloved face. 

“ Why, is it snowing, dear.? ” Mrs. Morton asked, 
noting the snowflakes that glistened among her 
daughter’s furs. “ How long the winter seems when 
one looks ahead ! Of course I was glad to have 
Clair here, but it will be good for us to be alone 
again. Have you anything planned for the even- 
ing? ” 

“ No, Mother. Imogene wanted me to go with her 
and some other girls to a concert, but I declined. 
There is something I want to talk over Avith you.” 

“ We will have time for it before dinner is ready. 
Oh, here is a letter. The writing looks like Rosa- 
lind’s, but it was mailed in New York.” 

“ It is from Rosalind,” Louise said, taking the 
envelope in her hand, “ Such a thick letter ! 


16 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Doubtless all about her little — no, her big social 
world. We will enjoy it together after dinner.” 

She laid down the letter and went to her own 
room to remove her wraps and smooth her disor- 
dered hair. For a moment she dropped on her knees, 
burying her face among the cushions of the window- 
seat, asking God for wisdom for the coming inter- 
view. Then she returned to the parlor and drew a 
low chair close to her mother’s side. 

“ It is about Doctor Hunter that I want to talk, 
Mother darling. I was at his office this afternoon, 
and I want to tell you what he said.” 


CHAPTER II 


Rosalind’s letter 

L ouise told of her interview with Doctor Hun- 
ter quietly, but with the subtle, almost uncon- 
scious bit of dramatic art which always enabled her 
to make an effective story of the most simple cir- 
cumstance. As the girl talked her mother put out 
one thin hand to turn the electric lamp so that its 
light might not fall directly upon her face. There 
was a moment’s silence when Louise ceased speaking, 
then Mrs. Morton said, 

“ Now it would be beautiful for- you and me to 
have a holiday together, a season of warmth and 
sunshine and ocean air, instead of our usual cold, 
disagreeable winter, but I cannot consent to your 
giving up the position you have only just secured. 
This engagement at the Central Church will put 
you, with your voice, in the front rank of Detroit 
singers. And, Louise, little girl, I am not well 
enough to go away by myself, even if I could bear 
to leave you here alone.” 

« But, Mother — ” 

Mrs. Morton interrupted her daughter, speaking 
more hurriedly than she had before : “ We will not 

talk any more about it, dear. I will stay in closely, 
and the troublesome throat will be all right. I’ll 
17 


18 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


not mind it much, as long as I have 3 'ou to tell me 
of your busy life out in the world.” 

Louise laid her cheek down on her mother’s knee. 
“ Mother, what does musical preferment mean to me 
compared with your welfare.? Doctor Hunter says 
it is not wise for you to remain here this winter, so 
we must go, and I think it is probable we can get off 
next week.” 

“ But about your position in the choir, dear 1 ” 
Gently but firmly Louise went over her arguments 
again and again, explaining, assuring her mother 
that the arrangements for their departure could 
easily be made, and at last Mrs. Morton yielded. 
She did it fully, completely, beginning at once to 
look on the bright side of their going. 

“ It is generous in you, darling, to give up your 
prospects for me, and I am sure that if we go we 
shall have a delightful time. If only we knew some 
one there I ” ' 

“ Oh, we will soon come to know people. I am 
sure there will be persons we know there some time 
during the season. Think how many of our ac- 
quaintances go to Florida for a part of the winter, 
and all visitors to that State stay, at least for a 
little time, at the Ancient City.” 

Just after dinner Louise was summoned to the 
telephone, which was in the hall, and she took ad- 
vantage of the opportunity, when her mother would 
not hear her, to call up the chairman of the church 
music committee, and also the friend who had been 
helping her organize a class of music pupils, explain- 


ROSALIND’S LETTER 


19 


ing to each the enforced change in her plans. Both 
were sui*prised and shocked. They were friends of the 
Mortons, and, while they expressed regret because 
Louise must for a time abandon her musical work, 
they commended her for going and offered to do all 
in their power to help her. 

For a half-hour after this mother and daughter 
discussed the dismantling of their cozy home, the 
journey, and their destination, when suddenly Mrs. 
Morton said, 

“ But you have not read Rosalind’s letter. What 
can she be doing in New York.? ” 

“ I will read it aloud,” and Louise opened the en- 
velope and began : 

** Dearest Louise: 

“ I’ve so much to tell you, so very much ! But first 
of all, dear, say you will, please do! It will break my 
heart if you do not, for, no matter how much this is 
going to mean to me, I somehow feel that I cannot go 
through it without some one near me who loves me. Of 
course there will be Cousin Myra and Mr. Green, but 
that’s different. 

“ Oh, dear ! I’ve begun in the middle, and as yet you 
don’t understand. Somehow I hate to tell you, you and 
your dove-eyed mother have such a different standard 
of life from people who are really out in the thick of 
things, fighting for wealth and position, as all the world 
must fight these days. Of course you will be surprised 
to receive this letter from New York; but Cousin Myra 
and I are here, buying my trousseau, buying the most 
beautiful and costly things that the city contains, in fact, 
spending money like water.” 


so 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Why, Louise I ” Mr&. Morton gasped, “ it must 
be — you see it must be that Rosalind is going to be 
married. Now that is not so surprising, but it does 
not seem as if even Rosalind would speak of her 
trousseau before she did of her betrothed.” 

Louise’s eyes had been running on down the page, 
and she frowned slightly as she said, “ I have learned 
not to be surprised at anything Rosalind does. Poor 
girl! She has been taught to put dress first in her 
life. But let us see what more she has to say,” and 
she went on: 

“ They say, Louise, that money can buy anything, and 
I begin to believe that it is true. One test I am going 
to make is to have it bring you to me for my wedding. 
It is to be in St. Augustine, and the swellest affair! 
Just think of that, dear! But I haven’t told you any- 
thing about it, so now I will begin at the beginning and 
go on, as orderly as a census report. 

“ I am to marry Thomas Green. He is a native of — 
many places, spends much time in New York and Wash- 
ington, and always winters in St. Augustine, where he 
has large monied interests. He is old, Louise. He says 
he is fifty, but I am dreadfully afraid he will always be 
taken for my grandfather. And he is not handsome or 
particularly brilliant, but he is rich. It seems to be his 
chief delight just now to spend his money on Cousin 
Myra and me, so you will readily see that I am in high 
favor with my aforesaid relative. She and Mr. Green 
are arranging everything. 

“ My dresses and cloaks and hats and shoes and hand- 
made lingerie — oh, Louise, they are immense ! And 
then my jewels! Such a rope of pearls as Mr. Green 


ROSALIND’S LETTER 


21 


gave me the other day ! I’ve no diamonds yet except 
my engagement ring, but I presume he will give me some 
as a wedding gift. And the wedding dress! It is a 
dream of white satin and duchess lace. 

“I — now I suppose I should say we — will be mar- 
ried at St. Augustine Deeember 15. Mr. Green has 
already gone there ; Cousin Myra and I go in three days. 
Of course my things are not finished, but the dressmak- 
ing establishment will send a woman down with them, to 
make sure that the fit is perfeet. Think of Rosalind 
Huff having that done for her! You see Mr. Green 
always spends his winters at the Alcazar in St. Augus- 
tine. He will have a suite of rooms ready for Cousin 
Myra and me when we arrive. The wedding is to be 
at a ehurch there, and that brings me round to you in 
partieular. Mr. Green thinks there should be at least 
three bridesmaids, and he said he would ask two daugh- 
ters of a friend of his, who will be at the hotel, to act. 
He asked if I had any girl friend whom I’d like to have 
come, and I told him of you. At once he said I was to 
send for you and tell you that all your expenses would 
be paid. Now, Louise, you must not say no. I realize 
that it would not be the way of you and your mother to 
let a man pay for all these things before the wedding, 
but what difference does a few days make? And, Louise, 
he must pay — pay the price in full.” 

A cry broke from Mrs. Morton’s lips. “ O 
Louise ! Louise ! what can Rosalind and her cousin 
be thinking of? It is a case of sale and barter! ” 

The faces of the two had grown pale. Rosalind 
Huff had been a pupil at JMadam Grand’s school in 
Washington. She was a beautiful girl, an orphan, 


22 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


with barely enough money left by her parents to 
provide for her until she was grown. Her nearest 
relative and guardian, Mrs. Myra Dalton, lived in 
Washington, and had consented to the year at 
Madam Grand’s so that Rosalind might acquire ac- 
complishments and be fitted for society. It was 
Mrs. Dalton’s object in life to see that Rosalind 
made what she called “ a good marriage,” and it was 
evident from this letter that she had accomplished 
her purpose. 

“Is there any more?” Mrs. Morton asked. 

“ Just a little,” and Louise read on : 

“Do come, do, Louise! Your bridesmaid dress will 
be provided for you. They are to be soft white silk 
with just a touch of yellow, and the decorations of the 
church are to be in the same colors. You know there is 
nothing so becoming to me as a bit of gold color. 

“ And I am to have, beside the dresses and jewels, a 
horse of my own, and that is one thing I have always 
wanted. There is to be a yacht ready for us before the 
wedding, and she is to be called the Rosalind. Mr. 
Green took down a new motor car with him. 

“ But I must stop. Write me at the Alcazar, St. 
Augustine, and tell me when to look for you. Come as 
soon as you can, and, Louise, if you have the least love 
for me, come, even if you do not approve of all the 
things done by Your devoted Rosalind.” 

Louise’s voice trembled over the last words. 
When the letter was finished she dropped it in her 
lap and turned to her mother, tears streaming down 
her face, 


ROSALIND’S LETTER 


23 


“ 0 Mother, how dreadful it all is I Poor Rosa- 
lind! She is not to blame, not so much as ]\Irs. 
Dalton. He must be a bad man to be willing 
to buy a beautiful young girl like Rosalind, for that 
is what he is ready to do.” 

Mary Morton’s face was stern, accusing. 

“ Louise, it would have been better if this letter 
had contained news of Rosalind’s death. Do not 
shake your head, daughter. This man must be de- 
void of all sense of honor, of every gentlemanly in- 
stinct, if he will win Rosalind’s promise to be his 
wife by offering her, not love or even respect, but 
just the things that money can buy. And it cannot 
buy happiness.” 

“But what about Mrs. Dalton?” Louise asked 
bitterly. “ She is the one to blame. Mother. I 
never liked her, but I did not think she would do a 
thing like this.” 

“ Neither did I, dear, although I knew she was a 
vain, frivolous woman. And Rosalind is alone in 
the world, with no one to take her part I Louise, I 
feel as if I must myself forbid the marriage. It is 
sinful I ” 

“ How strange it is. Mother, that we had already 
decided to go to the very town where this marriage 
is to take place I What shall I write Rosalind about 
being bridesmaid? I could not have accepted Mr. 
Green’s offer to pay my traveling expenses, but I 
shall be there, and — ” 

The look upon her mother’s face was so strange, 
so stern, that Lpyjse stopped, leaving the sentence 


24 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


uncompleted. Mrs. Morton leaned forward to draw 
her daughter close in her arms. 

“ Dear, my heart goes out to poor foolish Rosa- 
lind ! This marriage can bring her nothing but un- 
happiness. To me it is so sordid, so unworthy, that 
I hope you will have nothing to do with it. Write 
to Rosalind that we are planning to be in St. Augus- 
tine in a short time, before the wedding.” 

“ What reason shall I give for refusing her re- 
quest.? ” Louise asked. Then she threw back her 
head with a gesture of confidence. “ I’ll not ask 
that. Mother, or I should prove myself unworthy 
to be your daughter. I will tell my poor Rosalind 
just how we feel about the affair, and I hope it will 
not anger her, for. Mother, she will need her friends 
in the days to come.” 

“ You are right, dear. It makes my heart ache 
to recall how she wants some one who loves her to 
be near in this time of extremity. But how can she 
take such a step ! ” 

“ Rosalind does not remember her mother,” 
Louise said softly, “ and how can we expect her to 
be wise and womanly after her years of companion- 
ship with Mrs. Dalton.? Only the dear girl’s innate 
sweetness and worth have prevented her from com- 
ing to be as hard and grasping as her cousin.” 

It was long before the two left the subject of Rosa- 
lind Huff’s marriage and began to discuss their own 
plans, and Louise saw with satisfaction that her 
mother’s objections were overcome; it was settled 
that they were to spend the winter in the South. 


CHAPTER III 


THE JOURNEY 

T en days after Louise’s conference with Doctor 
Hunter, she and her mother started for Florida. 
Those days had proved to the two women the num- 
ber and the worth of their friends, who did every- 
thing possible to help them settle their home affairs 
for the winter and get away. 

Louise tried to lift every burden from her mother’s 
shoulders, attending herself to all the details pos- 
sible; still there were so many calls, so many fare- 
wells, that the invalid grew very weary, and Louise 
looked forward with eagerness to the actual starting. 

They were to leave Detroit at ten o’clock at night, 
taking a through Pullman to Jacksonville, and per- 
mission was obtained for them to go on an hour be- 
fore the starting-time. Mrs. Morton and her daugh* 
ter spent their last day in the city with the Hunters, 
and that evening when Doctor and Mrs. Hunter, IMrs. 
Morton and Louise arrived at the station they found 
a half-dozen of Louise’s girl friends waiting to see 
her off. 

“You’ll have a lovely time! I wish I was going 
with you ! ” one exclaimed. 

“ These carnations are for your mother and the 
box of candy is for you, Louise,” Imogene Carr said. 
25 


26 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ How many things you have to carry I Do you 
suppose they Avill let us all go on w’ith you ? ” 

“ Indeed they will not, Miss Imogene,” and Doc- 
tor Hunter laughed. “ Just one porter and myself 
can pass the gate.” 

Louise hurried the good-bys a little, for she knew 
that her mother was nervous over getting off. There 
were promises of letters, more flowers and candy, and, 
at the gate into the train-shed, hand-shakes and kisses. 

They found their berths made up, and Doctor 
Hunter helped the porter dispose of their luggage. 

“ See that you come back next spring with cheeks 
that rival Louise’s,” he said as he shook Mrs. Mor- 
ton’s hand. “ I am positive that the climate will do 
much for you.” 

Louise followed him to the car-door. “ How tired 
and wan she looks. Doctor Hunter I I am afraid the 
journey is going to prove more than she can stand.” 

“ But you say she is a good traveler. If she rests 
well to-night she will be all right to-morrow, and you 
will be in Jacksonville the day after to-morrow morn- 
ing, if your train is on time. Now I must say 
good-by and let you go back to our invalid.” 

For a moment she clung to his hand, half fright- 
ened by the thought that, when he was gone, she 
would have the full responsibility for the journey. 

“You have been so good to me. Doctor Hunter! 
I do not know what we should have done without 
you.” 

“ I w ish I could have done more for you, Louise. 
Do not worry; things wdll come right. Write me 


THE JOURNEY 


27 


freely about your mother’s condition. Now good-by, 
and God bless you ! ” 

Louise slept but little that night. She pushed up 
the curtain to her window and lay staring out into 
the darkness. What did this new land towards 
which they were speeding have in store for her and 
for her loved mother.? Would the wannth and the 
out-doors life restore the invalid’s strength.? Then 
there was Rosalind. Louise’s affection for her friend 
was deep and time, and she looked forward to the 
meeting with pleasure, yet, stronger than this w'as a 
feeling of foreboding that made her heart heavy. 

The next morning found them at Cincinnati. 
Mrs. Morton admitted that she had not slept well, 
but she rose, dressed, and w^ent with Louise to the 
dining-car for breakfast. 

The day w^as a bright and sunny one. Already 
they w'ere leaving behind them the extreme and un- 
usual cold of the early winter, and the country 
through which the train wound its way was full of 
interest. When they entered the mountains Louise 
watched w’ith delight the succession of low, irregular 
peaks clothed with evergreens or with the bare-limbed 
ashes, hickories, and maples. Occasionally a moun- 
tain stream lay in their pathw'ay, its turbulent waters 
triumphantly bridged by man’s skill. They passed 
tiny cabin homes, each set round with a few stump- 
dotted fields. Some of the towns where the train 
halted w^ere only hamlets, w'hile others were busy 
thriving places. 

The car was only sparsely filled. Louise hoped 


28 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


that they would find among their fellow-travelers 
some one whose destination was the same as their 
own, but she was disappointed. Mrs. Morton bore 
the journey well, although as the day wore on it was 
evident that she was growing tired. 

It was early evening when they reached Chatta- 
nooga, for their train had been losing time. In com- 
pany with a young lady whose berth was near her 
own Louise left the car for a few minutes’ brisk walk 
up and down the station platform. As they were 
about to reascend the steps leading up to the car two 
young men, each carrying a traveling bag, appeared. 

“ This must be the car the conductor meant. Yes, 
here is the number. Excuse me, madam.” 

This last was addressed to the girls as the two men 
stepped back to allow the ladles to mount the steps 
before them. Louise went back to her mother, and 
a few minutes later the strangers passed her on their 
way to near-by berths which had been unoccupied 
since the train left Detroit. 

Louise looked at them with the careless attention 
travelers often give those who are for the time their 
companions. She concluded that they were brothers, 
there was such an unmistakable resemblance in the 
two faces. Both were blonde. The taller and more 
slender of the two had a marked intellectual look, 
and his blue eyes darkened and sparkled as he talked. 
The other, a little under medium height and heavy, 
had a frank open face. They talked for a little 
time, then strolled in the direction of the dining-car. 

Just as day was breaking the next morning Louise 


THE JOURNEY 


29 


was roused by hearing her mother’s weak voice call 
her name. The girl hurried to the berth opposite 
her own where Mrs. Morton lay. 

“What is it, Mother Are you ill.?” 

“ Yes. I am faint and nauseated. Will you 
bring me some fresh water.? ” 

Louise hurried away to do her mother’s bidding, 
gave her some remedies prescribed by Doctor Hunter, 
then hastened to the dressing-room to exchange her 
kimono for her traveling dress. 

It was not long before the other passengers w'ere 
up. Suddenly Mrs. Morton began to grow W'orse, 
and Louise hastily summoned the porter, asking, 

“ Can you find out for me if there is a physician on 
the train.? I am alarmed about my mother.” 

“ One of the young gen’lemen what got on back to 
Chattanooga last night is a doctah. I seed it on his 
bag tag. Shall I ask him to come.? ” 

Louise hesitated for a moment, wishing that the 
physician looked older, more experienced. Her 
mother, who had overheard the conversation, said, 

“ I think it would be best, dear. They were men 
in whom one could have confidence.” 

“ Ask the gentleman if he will come here then. 
Tell him a lady is ill.” 

It was only a moment before the shorter and 
heavier of the two men approached the berth where 
Mrs. Morton lay and bowed, saying pleasantly, 

“ The porter told me there was a lady here who 
would like the services of a physician. I am Doctor 
Maurice Winthrop and have been for a year con- 


30 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


nected with a New York hospital, but am now on my 
way to locate in St. Augustine. If I can be of any 
service to you I shall be glad.” 

Louise smiled. “ Thank you. My mother, Mrs. 
Morton, is ill. We too are on our way to St. Augus- 
tine, going there for my mother’s health.” 

Doctor Winthrop looked down at the wan face on 
the pillow, a merry light in his eyes, saying, “ St. 
Augustine is my native town. I am so loyal to it, 
Mrs. Morton, that I am sure you will find in its de- 
lightful climate Ponce de Leon’s fabled fountain of 
youth. Now will you tell me the present trouble.? ” 

After talking quietly to the invalid for a few mo- 
ments, Doctor Winthrop turned to Louise to say re- 
assuringly, 

“ You have no occasion for alarm. Miss Morton. 
Your mother is weak and has an attack of what is 
commonly called ‘ car sickness.’ I will prepare some 
medicine, and we will have the porter bring her some 
strong coffee. A little later I am sure she will feel 
like getting up.” 

Louise glanced out of the wundow. The train was 
passing through a low, flat country where palmettos 
and live-oaks grew. 

“Are we far from Jacksonville?” she asked. 
“We are due there soon, but last night I knew that 
we were several hours late.” 

“ Yes, and we have continued to lose time. These 
through trains are always late ; It will be the middle 
of the afternoon before we arrive in Jacksonville.” 

An exclamation of dismay broke from Louise’s 


THE JOURNEY 


31 


lips. “ Now I hope there will be no trouble about a 
train to St. Augustine. Mother is so tired that I 
should dread a long wait.” 

“ There will be a late afternoon train ; we will be 
in time for that. My cousin and I will take that 
train.” 

After half an hour or so the treatment proved so 
successful that Mrs. Morton urged Louise to go to 
her breakfast, saying that she might bring back to 
her another cup of coffee and some toast, and the girl 
finally yielded to her entreaties and made her way to 
the dining-car. Nearly all the seats were filled, but 
a waiter beckoned her forward and placed her at a 
table directly opposite Maurice Winthrop and his 
cousin. The young physician looked across the table 
with a smile. 

“ Your presence here assures me that your mother 
is more comfortable, and I am glad to know it. May 
I present my cousin? Miss Morton, Mr. Winthrop, 
Paul Winthrop, for 'the last two years a New York 
newspaper man, but now returning to his ancestral 
home in sunny Florida.” 

Paul Winthrop’s handsome, scholarly face was 
lighted by a smile as he bowed to Louise. “ Excuse 
him. Miss Morton. He has no idea of inflicting the 
Winthrop family history upon you. The truth of 
the matter is we are both going home for a time, and 
it has gone to our heads. Is this your first visit to 
Florida? ” 

“ Yes, and it was planned so hurriedly that I am 
not even now sure that I am on the way.” 




PAYING THE PRICE! 


During the time that they were waiting for their 
breakfast and eating it the trio talked easily. 
Louise learned that, while both of the cousins had 
grown up in St. Augustine, it was Paul who was the 
heir and owner of the old home, which was situated in 
the outskirts of the Ancient City. Both young men 
were orphans. Winthrop House was kept open, a 
maiden aunt of the cousins residing there. Maurice 
told with evident satisfaction that he was about to 
begin practice in his home town. 

“ Because I am Paul’s father’s nephew I’ve been 
appointed on the staff of the city hospital,” he said 
whimsicall3\ “ You see. Miss Morton, Uncle John 
was beloved by all his townspeople. I owe him much, 
for he helped me through college. And Paul, here, 
is continuing the family kindness by insisting upon 
my living at Winthrop House, at least until I get 
fairly upon my feet.” 

“ I’d not dare face Aunt Patty if I had let you do 
anything else,” Paul said with a laugh. Then he 
began, in a somewhat marked manner, to talk of the 
country through which they were passing. Louise 
understood that he thought his cousin was talking 
too freely of their family affairs to a stranger. 

Soon the girl rose to return to her mother. She 
consulted Doctor Winthrop about some breakfast for 
the invalid, and when it was ordered he sent her on 
to the Pullman, promising himself to see that the 
tray was brought promptly. 

Mrs. Morton ate a few mouthfuls of the dainty 


THE JOURNEY 


33 


breakfast, and an liour later Louise assisted her to 
dress and made her comfortable in a corner of the seat 
with pillows. . 

It was evident to those who knew the road that the 
train would reach St. Augustine about three o’clock. 
Mrs. Morton was sleeping, and Louise had moved to 
an empty seat a little distance from her, when she 
was joined by the young doctor. 

“ I hope you will not think me presuming. Miss 
Morton, when I suggest that you let Paul and me 
make the arrangements for your changing cars at 
Jacksonville. No, it will not be the least trouble; 
we have our own baggage to recheck.” 

“ Our trunks were checked through,” Louise hast- 
ened to say, “ but I shall be glad of your assistance 
in learning about the southern-bound train. Mother 
is so exhausted that I hope we shall not have long to 
wait.” 

“ It will not be very long. But do you know where 
you are going when you reach St. Augustine? ” 

Louise explained that, acting on Doctor Hunter’s 
suggestion, they had written to the Magnolia, re- 
serving rooms. Maurice nodded. 

“ The JMagnolia. That is a good house. I’ll get 
Paul to call up the host and tell him he must be extra 
nice to you. My cousin proposed that, if you had 
no rooms engaged, you should come, for the night at 
least, to Winthrop House.” 

Louise’s long-lashed gray eyes opened very wide. 
“ Oh, we could not intrude upon strangers,” she ex- 


34 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


claimed, “ but it was very kind in Mr. Winthrop to 
think of such a thing. This must be the Southern 
hospitality of which we read and hear.” 

Dr. Winthrop laughed boyishly. “ Does it seem 
unusual to you? It was the most natural thing in 
the world for Paul to do. I’d call it graciousness 
rather than generosity, for it is not an acquired 
grace. He is the very best ever! Some day I am 
sure Paul will be widely known as an author.” 

“ Then he is not always to be a reporter,” Louise 
said carelessly. 

“ He is not a reporter, but a special writer. That 
will enable him to do weekly articles for his paper 
while he is at Winthrop House. Paul has already 
done some clever things for the magazines. Of 
course he hopes to do more, and he hopes — as every 
scribbler docs — to some day produce a ‘ best seller,’ 
if not the ‘ great American novel.’ ” 

The girl smiled. “ And I hope he will succeed. 
Somehow, Doctor Winthrop, I am a little disap- 
pointed in Florida. Where are your golden-fruited 
orange groves and your claims to the title ‘ the land 
of flowers ’? ” 

He looked out of the window. They were passing 
through a Jong stretch of pine barrens. The gi-ound 
was largely covered with a rank growth of young 
palmettos and coarse yellowish-brown grass or sedge. 
There was occasionally a live-oak, its branches 
draped with long, spectral festoons of gray Spanish 
moss. 

“ Why, Miss Morton, this is Georgia ; the land of 


THE JOURNEY 


35 


promise is two hours’ ride away. Do not expect too 
much; tropical Florida lies far to the southward. 
Rut wait until you see North Beach at St. Augus- 
tine ! ” 

It was the middle of the afternoon when they 
reached Jacksonville. The Winthrops settled Mrs. 
Morton and her daughter in the comfortable wait- 
ing-room of the station and then went out to re- 
check their own baggage. Louise watched her 
mother with anxious eyes. 

“ You are very tired, Mother; I know you are.” 

“ Yes, daughter. I shall be very glad when we 
are in rooms where we are to stay for a time.” 

During the wait of nearly two hours the Win- 
throps did everything in their power to make the time 
pass pleasantly and to make Mrs. Morton comfort- 
able, and after they had boarded the train Louise 
tried to express her gratitude, saying to the doctor, 
“ What should we ever have done without your help? ” 

“ There would have been some one else, and we 
would have been the losers. You’ll not let the in- 
formality of our meeting stand in the way of our 
knowing you better, will you. Miss Morton? We 
should like to bring Aunt Patty to call upon you.” 

The girl’s eyes met his frankly as she said, “We 
have received too many kindnesses from you to have 
any desire to retire under the cloak of formality. 
Mother and I will be very glad to meet your aunt.” 

When they left the train it was dark, and Maurice 
took the ladies to the waiting-room, while Paul found 
the carriage that belonged to the Magnolia. The 


36 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


cousins put the mother and 'daughter inside and bade 
them good-by. Then Paul said, 

“ I am going in the station and telephone the IMag- 
nolia, to make sure every possible courtesy is 
shown those ladies. Then heighho for Winthrop 
House and one of Aunt Patty’s hot suppers ! ” 
When Mrs. Morton and her daughter reached the 
hotel they found a bowing and smiling landlord ready 
•himself to show them to their rooms. They had en- 
gaged two: a chamber large enough for two beds 
and a pleasant sitting-room. A fireplace in this last 
apartment contained a leaping wood-fire, and they 
were soon, with the aid of a deft maid, comfortably 
settled, and their dinner was brought up to them. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE ANCIENT CITY 

L ouise was awake early the next morning. She 
saw that her mother was sleeping -and lay still, 
planning the day before her. 

“ I must let Rosalind know that we are here, for I 
promised to. How I should enjoy having the dear 
girl here if it were not for that dreadful wedding! 
Now — no, I’ll not call her up. The best way will 
be to write a note and send it by a messenger.” 

A little later Mrs. Morton woke, greatly refreshed 
by the night’s rest, and insisted upon rising; but 
when dressed she was glad to lie down for a while on 
the sitting-room couch. 

“ You will have to bring me up a bit of breakfast, 
dear,” she said when the bell rang. ‘‘ It is too bad 
for you to have to go down alone but I hardly think 
I can venture this morning.” 

“ Never mind, little Mother. The landlord said 
the tourists had only just begun to arrive for the 
winter. I may be stared at by those who arrived 
yesterday, but to-morrow I can stare at the new- 
comers.” 

Louise carried up a tray to her mother, wrote to 
Rosalind and a few of the home friends while her 
mother ate, and then decided that while Mrs. Morton 
was resting she would go for a little walk. 

37 


38 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


She halted in the office to ask a few questions about 
the best direction to go. 

“ It’s all within a few minutes’ walk, ma’am,” said 
the affable clerk. “ When jmu step out of our door 
the City Gate is to your left hand and only a little 
way off. Going the other w'ay you soon come to 
the Plaza, and just across from it is the water. The 
fort is not fa» from the City Gate, or ’tis a fine walk 
to follow the sea wall from in front of the Plaza to 
the fort.” 

With a smiling word of thanks Louise left the 
hotel. Once outside, the sunshine and the warmth 
of the air made her realize that she was far from the 
land where winter reigned. “ I wull leave the City 
Gate and Fort Marion for some other time,” she 
thought, facing in the direction of the water. 
“ What a quaint, narrow street 1 ” 

There were novel sights at every step. Reaching 
the little Plaza, with its monuments and comfortable 
seats arranged in the shade of native trees, Louise 
lingered for a few minutes, then walked on to the sea 
wall that had been built to prevent the flooding of 
the little town. 

St. Augustine’s water front is on an inlet of the 
ocean known as Matanzas River or Bay. This, a 
smooth expanse of blue water and an excellent har- 
bor, is shut in by long, low Anastasia Island. This 
island is a stretch of white sand-dunes and dwarfed 
dark green trees. Louise knew that the real ocean 
beach lay on the other side of the island. She stood 
on the wall looking about on the right, wLere the 


THE AxNCIENT CITY 


39 


lighthouse, Avith its curious black and Avhite spiral 
stripes, seemed to dominate the scene, off to the left 
AA'here old Fort Marion loomed, a mass of soft har- 
monious grays. 

A quick sigh parted the girl’s lips. “ How 
strange, yet how attracth'e it all is ! I am sure I 
shall be happy here, if only mother improves and 
Rosalind is not too obviously spoiling her own life.” 

After a little she turned southward, wandering 
along the narrow street paved with crushed shells. 
The old houses, some of them built of coquina, with 
quaint, second-story balconies which projected out 
over the heads of passers-by, were interspersed with 
smart neAv dwellings. In the balmy air there was the 
tang of the sea’s salt. Gradually the streets began to 
fill, and Louise, recalling the note to be dispatched 
to Rosalind, went back to the hotel and sent it by a 
messenger, asking that he Avait for a reply. 

Then she went up stairs, to find her mother seated 
at an open window that commanded a view of the 
street, a look of interest on her face. The girl dreAv 
a chair near and Av’as still recounting the noA'el things 
seen during her short walk when a rap sounded on the 
door and a messenger handed in a note addressed to 
Louise. She saw that it was in her friend’s well- 
knoAvn Avriting, and she glanced hurriedly over the 
sheet of paper, then looked across at her mother. 

“ It is as impulsive and disconnected as her letter, 
but the substance is that she asks me to come to her. 
Her reason for not coming here this morning is that 
a box of dresses has just arrived from Ncav York, and 


40 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Mrs. Dalton thinks they should be tried on at once.” 

“ And they both want you to see the dresses,” Mrs. 
Morton said with an indulgent smile. “ You would 
better go, dear.” 

“ Mother,” said Louise, coming over to Mrs. Mor- 
ton’s side, “ I am sure that Rosalind will bring up 
again the question of my being her bridesmaid. If 
I resume the old friendly relations with her we cannot 
avoid being swept, in a certain way, into the festivi- 
ties attendant upon the wedding. What shall we do 
about it.^ I feel that we should settle that question 
before I meet Mrs. Dalton, for she is the one to be 
reckoned with rather than Rosalind. But my heart 
yearns over the dear, misled girl.” 

“ So does mine, Louise, and I feel that we must not 
lose our hold upon her; in the days to come she will 
need her real friends even more than she does now. 
Dear, in one way Rosalind has a right to marry whom 
she pleases. But I am older than you both, and I 
know that married life, with its responsibilities and 
trials, can bring happiness only when founded upon 
a true, sincere love. I am going to try to show Rosa- 
lind this. Personally I would as soon Mrs. Dalton 
should know that we disapprove of the marriage. 
However, if you do not care to discuss it with her, 
you can say that the matter rests between you and 
Rosalind.” 

“ Very well. Mother, I will try to act wisely. 
Rosalind urges me to remain with her for luncheon, 
but I shall not do it, not to-day. Good-by,” and with 
a kiss she left the room. 


THE ANCIENT CITY 


41 


It was only a short walk to the Alcazar, which de- 
lighted Louise’s artistic nature, its stately gray walls 
masked in luxuriant vines. She passed through a 
court where flowers bloomed and fountains played into 
a magnificent interior, and at her inquiry a servant 
led the way up stairs. His knock upon a door was 
answered, after a brief delay, by a dark-faced, elab- 
orately-dressed woman of forty. 

“ Ah, Miss Morton ! Rosalind is very busy, but 
she insisted upon seeing you. Walk in and I 
will — ” 

Even as Louise stepped across the threshold into 
a luxuriously-furnished parlor, there was a swift rush 
of feet from the adjoining chamber, and the next 
moment Rosalind’s arms were clinging close round 
Louise, and a sweet voice, a trifle high-pitched, was 
crying, 

“ O Louise ! I am so glad, so glad that my heart 
aches ! There is no one in all the world quite like 
you.” 

Rosalind Huff was tall and slender. All her move- 
ments, both in walking and in the frequent gestures 
with which she emphasized her speech, were graceful, 
gliding rather than abrupt. Her features were reg- 
ular, her complexion a clear, pale olive tinted with 
crimson at lips and cheeks. She had beautiful black 
eyes shaded by heavy lashes, and her shining black 
hair was elaborately dressed. 

For a moment Louise held her friend at arm’s 
length, looking intently at her. Then she exclaimed, 
“Rosalind, how beautiful you are!” 


42 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“You dear! And you are not given to flattery.” 

Just then Mrs. Dalton’s voice, cold, commanding, 
was heard. “ Do be sensible, Rosalind. You will 
crush that dress.” 

Rosalind’s arms dropped away from her old friend, 
and stepping back a pace she asked, “ How do you 
like it, Louise.^ It’s one of a half-dozen evening 
dresses, and they are all dreams. Cousin Myra did 
not want me to have a black dress, but I wanted this, 
and Madam Grant has certainly worked out my idea 
in a charming manner.” 

The gown was black chiffon over gleaming black 
satin. There was a train, and Rosalind’s neck and 
arms were bare. The dress was dotted with gold 
spangles that glistened and twinkled with each move- 
ment of the wearer. On the left shoulder the scarf- 
like drapery was confined by a gold buckle set with 
brilliants. 

“It needs diamonds, doesn’t it.?” Rosalind asked 
a little pettishly. “ I shall be dreadfully disap- 
pointed if Mr. Green does not give me a necklace and 
bracelets as a wedding present.” 

]\Irs. Dalton turned to Louise, indignation ex- 
pressed in both face and voice. “ Did you ever hear 
such insolence. Miss Morton? A few weeks ago she 
was a pauper, and now she demands — yes, demands 
— diamonds and saddle-horses and laces fit for an 
empress.” 

“ They are the price that he pays ; I do not intend 
to lose sight of that fact,” Rosalind said in a hard, 
defiant voice. Then, catching sight of Louise’s 


THE ANCIENT CITY 


4& 

grieved face, she went on, “ But what a barbarous 
greeting for you, dearest! How is your mother? I 
w'ill surely see her to-morrow. Now come to my own 
room with me while I slip off this frock and get into 
another, so that we can talk.” 

Mrs. Dalton stepped forv'ard. “ If Miss Morton 
goes with you, you will hot get dressed in a half- 
hour. Leave her with me ; there is something I want 
to say to her.” 

The two wrangled over it, but in the end Mrs. Dal- 
ton had her way. When the door had dosed after 
Rosalind, her cousin turned to Louise, who had been 
seated near a window that looked into the court. 

“ She is beautiful, as you said. Miss Morton, but 
a more unmanageable, ungrateful girl never lived. 
No one, not even Rosalind herself, could ask for a 
better marriage than this. Mr. Green is immensely 
rich, and he is lavishing his wealth upon Rosalind 
with a free hand.” 

She paused as if waiting for Louise’s comment. 
The girl did not speak, but she met Mrs. Dalton’s 
gaze squarely, and something in those clear gray 
eyes, as frank and open as those of a child, irritated 
the older woman. She went on, a note of resentment 
in her voice: 

“ It was about your reply to Rosalind’s letter that 
I wanted to ask you. She did not let me see it, but 
it excited her, and at first she said you had refused 
the honor of being one of her bridesmaids. Later she 
said it was not yet settled ; you were not sure that the 
state of your mother’s health would permit you to 


44 


PAYING THE PRICE 1 


accept the invitation. I can read her. She is de- 
termined to remain friends with you, and she is try- 
ing to make Mr. Green believe that no snub was in- 
tended. Why did you refuse, Miss Morton.^ 
Surely you cannot be jealous of Rosalind’s splendid 
future.” 

Instead of flushing Louise grew pale. How little 
this woman understood of life’s real meaning! And 
yet this was the teaching which in large measure had 
shaped Rosalind’s nature. 

“ Why did you refuse.^ ” Mrs. Dalton repeated. 

“ I gave Rosalind my reasons. To my mother and 
myself this marriage is a mistake. Rosalind does not 
claim, and I feel sure you do not, that love has any- 
thing to do with it. Then my mother does not ap- 
prove of these gifts, of Rosalind coming here at Mr. 
Green’s expense.” 

Mrs. Dalton caught her breath. She was not so 
much angered as surprised; she had not expected 
this slender young girl, with no social position and 
no wealth, to dare criticise the plans for Rosalind. 
As for Louise she had forgotten her dread of Mrs. 
Dalton. In that moment she was conscious of but 
one thing, and that was a desire to prove that she 
was Rosalind’s friend. 

“Love!” Mrs. Dalton sneered. “Now I hope. 
Miss Morton, you will not go to putting any notions 
into Rosalind’s head. Sentiment is not needed to 
make a marriage happy. Mr. Green is very proud of 
her beauty, and she honors him. What more is 
needed ” 


THE ANCIENT CITY 


45 


Louise was saved the necessity of replying by a 
rap upon the outer door. While Mrs. Dalton was 
engaged there Rosalind called from her chamber, 

“ Come quick, dear ! I’ve slipped into this little 
gown, and if you will fasten it, we will be ready for a 
real visit.” 

Rosalind locked the door as soon as Louise was 
in the room with her. Then, when the dress was fas- 
tened, she drew her friend down on the bed. “ It’s 
so good to see you! You have not changed, only 
grown prettier and — well, somehow dearer.” 

“ What a beautiful room this is I ” Louise said, not 
because it mattered to her, but because she was aware 
that, as Rosalind had ceased speaking, she must say 
something. 

A petulant look came to Rosalind’s face. “ Oh, 
I suppose it is good enough, but I wanted rooms at 
the Ponce. That is really the swell hotel here, but it 
does not open until the first of January. I hinted 
to Mr. Green that doubtless a liberal sum would in- 
duce the manager to open it, but he said he had al- 
ways been at the Alcazar and had been very com- 
fortable.” 

“ Will you remain in St. Augustine all winter ” 
Louise asked politely. 

“ I want a trip to Culpa, and I mean to have it. 
Mr. Green thinks this town is perfect ; he is going to 
have a winter home here. He has a claim upon a 
fine old place — a mortgage I suppose. This winter 
he is going to get the place into his hands and re- 
model it. He says he will make it one of the show: 


46 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


places of St. Augustine. The people — their name 
is Winthrop — are fussy about turning it over to 
him, but he will have his way.” 

Louise started. “ Why, that is the name of some 
gentlemen mother and I met on the train coming 
down here. Certainly it cannot be their old home, 
for they — ” 

Rosalind interrupted her. “ Louise, do you not 
want to see my dresses The wedding dress and veil 
will be here in a few days. And I want you to see the 
string of pearls that Mr. Green gave me.” 

“ I would rather you would tell me about Mr. Green 
than show me what his money has bought. Rosalind, 
why are you marrying him.? ” 

Slipping from the bed to the floor Rosalind buried 
her face in Louise’s lap. No sound broke the silence, 
but the girl’s slight form shook as with the stress of 
some great emotion. Louise tried to raise her. 

“ Forgive me, dear 1 I had no right to ask that, 
hut I — O Rosalind, I am so afraid you will not be 
happy 1 ” 

It was a pain-distorted face that was lifted to 
Louise. “ Happy ! I’ve never been that, save for 
the few hours when I could forget. Always since I 
can remember I have lived with Cousin Myra. She 
has been in need of money all the time. Father left 
the little he had so that it was paid yearly while I 
was a minor. It has been barely enough for my food 
and clothes, although Cousin Myra managed to give 
me that year at Madanj Grand’s. And, Louise, she 
has taught me to love clothes and jewels and the ap- 


TPIE ANCIENT CITY 


47 


pendages of wealth. Always she has told me that 
my only hope was to make what she calls a good mar- 
riage. I do not know how to do one thing well 
enough to earn my bread; I hate poverty and I love 
luxury ; so — I am going to marry Thomas Green.” 

“What kind of a man is he.^ Do you respect 
him.?” 

Rosalind stood up. For a moment she turned her 
face away. Louise felt that her friend was making 
an effort to slip back from the land of reality to the 
region where wealth and what it could buy ruled. 

“ Dear Rosalind, I wish you — ” 

“ You shall see Mr. Green at lunch and form your 
own opinion of him. Respect is too tame a word ; 
he expects to be honored for his wealth. Despite it, 
though, we are somewhat on the outside of things 
here at the Alcazar. Mr. Green has his friends, but 
there are some here — the intellectual and the re- 
ligious crowd, the real thing — who look askance at 
iis. But they shall see. Now I am going to show 
you some of my things.” 

Louise looked and admired, but her heart was 
heavy. Over and over Rosalind urged the matter 
of her friend being one of the bridesmaids. 

“Is it your mother.?” she asked. “I’ll see her, 
and she will not refuse me. Of course, Louise, you 
do not approve, but, as long as I will do it, you might 
as well help. It would be a help to me, dearie, and 
I’ll need — ” 

She broke off abruptly, relapsing into the gay 
mood which it was apparent it was not easy for her 


48 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


to maintain. Louise explained that she could not 
remain for lunch on her mother’s account. 

“ Come to see her to-morrow,” she urged as she 
rose to go. “ Do you remember how you used to en- 
joy coming out to our rooms in Washington for Sun- 
day-night tea.P ” 

“ Yes, I remember. Louise, it is no credit to you 
that you are good ; you were born so, and your home 
life and your mother would have made an angel of 
even a little imp like me. Yes, I’ll come over to-mor- 
row, and I’ll bring Mr. Green along. You and Mrs. 
]Morton will have to see him, and it might as well be 
done and over with.” 

Before Louise could say more Rosalind led the way 
back to the parlor where Mrs. Dalton was waiting. 
It was easy to see that the widow was relieved when 
she leaiTied that Louise was not to stay for lunch. 

“ It is too bad. Miss Morton, that we cannot 
see anything of you until after the wedding,” she 
said pointedly. “ The truth is that all the time Rosa- 
lind can spare from her trousseau she owes to Mr. 
Green. He does not enjoy motoring alone, and his 
car is one of the finest in the city.” 

“ We will take you and your mother out some 
day,” Rosalind promised. “ Yes, Cousin Myra, I 
am going down stairs with Louise. The dresses can 
wait.” 

She went out through the court, bidding her girl 
friend good-by at the gate. “ Just until to-morrow,” 
she said as she turned about to re-enter the hotel. 


CHAPTER V 


MRS. Morton’s appeal 

O N the morning of the Mortons’ second day in 
St. Augustine Louise was delighted to see that 
her mother was well enough to go down to breakfast. 
The meal over, the two ladies went out on the veranda 
for a few minutes. 

“ This afternoon we will engage one of those two- 
seated carriages and negro drivers that throng the 
streets and go for an hour’s drive,” Louise said. 
“ I give you warning. Mother : in a month’s time I 
shall expect you to walk to the old fort and back.” 

Mrs. Morton smiled. “ I am eager to begin to 
explore this interesting old town. The rides will be 
all very well until I am stronger, but I am sure we 
shall enjoy the walks. You must not wait for me to 
make your first visit to the beach, though. That Mrs. 
Miller, who sat next to me at breakfast, said they 
would take you with them some day soon.” 

After a few turns up and down the long veranda 
the two ladies went up stairs. Louise was reading 
the morning paper aloud when she was interrupted 
by an exclamation from her mother’s lips. Mrs. Mor- 
ton was seated where she could look down into the 
street in front of the hotel. 

“ See, Louise, it is Rosalind ! What a fine car ! 
49 


50 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Can that — Louise, can that be the man the dear girl 
is to marry I ” 

Sheltered behind the curtains they both looked 
down at the long, low gray car. The chauffeur was 
a big burly negro. Rosalind, in a striking dark 
green cloak and a long floating veil of the same color, 
stood a little apart while the gentleman who had ac- 
companied her gave some instructions to his driver. 
When Mr. Green turned to join Rosalind both of the 
ladies at the window saw him plainly. 

He was apparently sixty years old, stout and 
clumsy. His face was red, and as he lifted his hat in 
greeting to some ladies who were passing it was easy 
to see that he was bald. A heavy iron-gray mustache 
hid his mouth. His face was coarse, sensual, yet 
strong. 

“ He is coming up wdth her. How can we meet 
him?” Louise cried, her voice trembling wdth some- 
thing like terror. 

Mrs. Morton rose, her head held proudly erect. 
“ We will meet him with politeness, my daughter, be- 
cause this little sitting-room is really our home,” she 
said gravely. 

Louise had left word at the office that callers w^ere 
to be shown up at once, and in a moment there w'as 
a knock and she w'as receiving Rosalind’s loving greet- 
ing. 

“ I could hardly wait, dear, until a reasonable time 
to come. Miss Morton, I want you to meet my 
fiance, Mr. Green. If you are as nice to Louise as 


MRS. MORTON’S APPEAL 


51 


she deserves, Mr. Green, some day I will let you hear 
her sing.” 

While Thomas Green was bowing over the hand 
of Louise, Rosalind flew across the room to throw 
herself in Mrs. Morton’s arms. For a moment the 
girl’s gayety vanished; the face she bent down for 
the older, woman’s kiss was appealing, wistful. 

“ Oh, you haven’t changed in the least ; you look 
just like a mother,” she whispered so low that the 
words did not reach the two by the door. “ I love 
you, Mrs. Morton, but you always make me so 
ashamed, because I am what I am.” 

“ Dear girl, I am very glad to see you. But you 
have changed, Rosalind. You are more beautiful 
and — ” 

She paused, studying the girl’s vividly-tinted face 
as if seeking there for some explanation of the change 
that a year and a half had wrought in Rosalind. 
That girl laughed a little mockingly. 

“ More frivolous and evil ! That is what the world 
does to all of us save saints like you and Louise. 
Mr. Green, come and meet this charming lady whose 
praises I have been singing to you all the morning.” 

“ Sure I’m delighted,” Thomas Green said in a 
loud, harsh voice. “ She’s said so much about you, 
Mrs. Morton, that I’m sorry you came here. You’d 
better let us move you over to the Alcazar, and then 
you can be right in the midst of the gay time we are 
having.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Green, but we are very com- 


52 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


fortable here,” was Mrs. Morton’s reply. “ I am 
here for my health, and my orders are to be very 
quiet, at least for a time.” 

Rosalind’s eyes had been wandering around the 
room. A wood-fire crackled in the grate. Some 
pretty cushions added to the couch, books, a few pic- 
tures, and a vase of violets on the table gave the room 
a homelike air. Suddenly the girl’s lips quivered. 
“ Mrs. Morton would make a real home of the poor- 
est room. Now tell me that you are gaining.” 

Louise had pushed forward some chairs, but Mr. 
Green waved his hand. 

“ I can’t stay, my dear young lady; just came up 
because Rosalind insisted upon my doing it. She 
actually expects me to do as she bids me 1 ” and he 
laughed boisterously. “ I’ve got to pick up a man 
down the street and run ten miles up in the country to 
look at a piece of land that is for sale. This is the 
place for a man to turn over his money. I assure 
you, Mrs. Morton, it keeps me busy doing it. I say, 
Rosalind.? ” 

“What is it.?” she asked, her eyes avoiding his 
gaze. 

“ You’ll have to walk back to the hotel, for I’ll 
not get around here again until the middle of the 
afternoon.” 

She shrugged her shoulders impatiently. “ Oh, that 
is all right. I promised Cousin Myra I’d be back in 
an hour. And you — you’ll not forget?” 

“ Now if that isn’t the limit I ” exclaimed Mr. 
Green, turning to Mrs. Morton. “ She’s teasing me 


MRS. MORTON’S APPEAL 


53 


to buy her a horse so that she can ride with me. No, 
little girl, I’ll not forget. Forbes is going to send 
down from Jacksonville the first horse he finds that 
he thinks will suit me. He knows we don’t want any- 
thing but the best. Good-by, ladies. Will see you 
again,” and he hurried out of the room. 

“ I did not know you could ride, Rosalind,” Louise 
said. 

“ Why, I learned one summer when Cousin IMyra 
and I spent some time in the country. Then I rode 
a little with Mr. Green in Washington. He hired 
a horse for me, but I want one of my own, one that 
has fire and spirit, so that I can use up my own sense 
of revolt in subduing the animal.” 

A slight shudder passed over Louise’s form. The 
next moment she was talking of their old school 
friends in Washington, asking about one, volunteer- 
ing information about another. Rosalind threw her- 
self into the conversation with her usual ardor. Mrs. 
Morton saw that both girls were avoiding a discus- 
sion of the coming marriage. Yet inevitably the con- 
versation veered round to it, Rosalind turning to the 
older woman and saying pleadingly, 

“ Why are you not willing for Louise to be my 
bridesmaid? The dresses are due to-morrow, planned 
and begun so that they can be fitted and finished 
under the directions of the woman who is to come 
down with them. Is it just because you disapprove 
of my accepting all these beautiful things and the 
stay here and the wedding from Mr. Green? ” 

“ That is one reason, Rosalind, but do not mis- 


54 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


understand me ; that reason is based on another and 
a stronger one. If you and Mrs. Dalton approve 
of Mr. Green’s munificence, I do not feel that I have 
a right to question it. But I would not be willing 
for Louise to accept the bridesmaid dress from him.^’ 
“ You do not understand, Mrs. Morton,” and in a 
single instant Rosalind’s face seemed to grow older, 
more determined. “ You see you and Louise think 
that all the world is as honorable and high-minded 
as yourselves. I learned before I was sixteen that 
everything has its price, and as I look at it Mr. Green 
must fulfil his part of our contract and pay the 
price.” 

An exclamation of dismay broke from Mary Mor- 
ton’s lips. “ Rosalind, dear child, are you mad.^ ” 

“ No, sane and sensible. I’ll not deny, dear Mrs. 
Morton, that I see how beautiful it is to grow up as 
Louise has, to have so exalted an ideal in life as to 
be able to keep yourself ‘ unspotted from the world.’ 
But that was not for me. Cousin Myra brought me 
up to make a good marriage, and she does not intend 
to be disappointed.” 

“ Come here, Rosalind,” said Mrs. Morton, holding 
out her hand. “ Answer me one question. Why are 
you planning to marry this man ? ” 

Rosalind drew back from the extended hand; if 
she played her part she must close her heart to the 
influence of this gentle woman. Yet for the moment 
she dropped pretext and spoke plainly. 

“I want fine dresses and jewels, a place in the 
social world and money. But I will not deny that 


MRS. MORTON’S APPEAL 


55 


at first I shrank from taking them as the price of 
becoming Thomas Green’s wife. Then Cousin Myra 
played her cards well. She showed me how useless it 
would be for me to refuse. Mrs. Morton, I have no 
money, no relatives to whom I can turn. While I 
received a veneer of accomplishments, I have not 
been taught to do any one particular thing well 
enough so that I could earn my living. What could 
I do but marry ? ” 

“ It is not too late to do something else even now,” 
Mrs. Morton said gravely. “ If you will give up this 
unholy marriage, if you will face your cousin and 
Mr. Green, I will stand by you. We are not rich, 
Rosalind, but our little shall be stretched to provide 
for three instead of two. Louise and I will give you 
a home with us.” 

“ I did not know there was such generosity in the 
world,” Rosalind said tremulously. “ But, Mrs. 
Morton, I could not accept charity.” 

“ It need not be charity, dear girl ; I will loan you 
the money to fit yourself to earn your own living. 
Perhaps stenography would be — ” 

A mocking little laugh came from Rosalind’s lips. 
“ Life in a dingy office and shabby clothes do not 
appeal to me. I must be hopelessly bad, Mrs. Mor- 
ton, for I want the things that Thomas Green’s 
money can buy.” 

“ But what of the man himself ? Why does he 
want to marry you ? ” 

“ His first wife died, he divorced the second, and 
he wants a third. I am pretty and suit his fancy. 


56 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


He looks upon me as a decoration to be added to his 
ostentatious life. Then Cousin Myra has made him 
believe we are to be valuable assets in the social life 
he is planning. You may be sure she expects to share 
it. Personally that man is distasteful to me, but thus 
far I have been able to hide it from him. He thinks 
the reason I grant him so few kisses is because I am 
shy. Once I am his wife, he will learn that in some 
things I will have my own way.” 

“ You poor mistaken child 1 Have you read the 
man so poorly? He is strong and cmel, and he will 
be your master, Rosalind. I saw that much in his 
face.” 

Rosalind stood up. “ I will never yield to him, and 
I will fight, fight, fight! O Mrs. Morton, don’t say 
any more to me. I must go on. I will go on ! ” 

Even while the words were on her lips Rosalind 
threw herself down by Mrs. Morton’s side, sobbing 
aloud. The older woman’s arms gathered her close, 
and loving words were lavished upon the wretched 
girl. It was only a few moments before Rosalind 
stood up, making a desperate effort to recover her 
composure. 

“ Dear Mrs. Morton, you must not lead me on to 
break down like this. I appreciate your words and 
the loving nature that prompts them, but I must 
carry out what I have begun. Do not turn away 
from me. I’ll not ask Louise to be my bridesmaid, 
and I’ll tmmp up some story about your health that 
will satisfy Mr. Green. That will not be difficult, 
because he thinks we should ask the daughter of a 


MRS. MORTON’S APPEAL 


57 


business acquaintance of his who came unexpectedly 
to the hotel last week. But let me feel in the ten 
days before my wedding that I have two friends in 
you and Louise. Can you do that.? Or will my 
headstrongness force you to renounce me.? ” 

Mrs. Morton too had risen. She put her arm 
around Rosalind. “ Friendship and love do not turn 
away, no matter how sorely hurt, because of what 
the loved one does. Much as I regret your decision, 
Rosalind, I can promise always to be your friend.” 

“ And you, Louise,” Rosalind asked, holding out a 
hand to her schoolgirl friend, “ you will not cease to 
love me? ” 

“ Never, dear,” and Louise put both arms round 
the other girl. “No matter what the future brings, 
I will be your friend. But I am sorry.” 

“We will not talk of it any more; it will do no 
good. Now I must go. Cousin Myra will be furi- 
ous, and really there are many things to do before 
everything will be in readiness. We are to be mar- 
ried in the morning, and the hotel will serve a wed- 
ding breakfast. Then Mr. Green and I go to Palm 
Beach for a few days, and I intend to persuade him 
to take me on to Cuba.” 

Again she was the Rosalind whose thoughts were 
centered in the show and display of her coming mar- 
riage. Mrs. Morton sighed, but said no more ; she 
had made her appeal, and made it in vain. Rosa- 
lind would go on in her own way. Tenderly the older 
woman kissed the girl good-by. 

“ May God keep you from evil, Rosalind ! Dare 


58 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


I ask Him to save you from the consequences of your 
own acts? If only you would accept his love and 
guidance! Now, while Louise walks part of the way 
back to the hotel with you, I will lie down on the 
couch. This discussion has tired me.” 

Notwithstanding the tasks waiting Rosalind and 
her cousin’s impatience, the two girls walked out to 
the City Gate, around by the fort and the sea wall 
to the Plaza. There they bade each other good-by, 
Rosalind saying, 

“ To-morrow — Sunday — we motor down to Day- 
tona with some people at< the hotel. If w e are back 
in tjme I will run over in the evening. Will you come 
to the Alcazar some night and sing for us? ” • 

Louise evaded making a promise by talking of her 
unwillingness to leave her mother alone. “ But I 
will sing for you some day, dear,” she said affec- 
tionately. 

At three o’clock the ladles started on their 
drive, going to the fort, out to the spring that 
had recently been dubbed “ the Fountain of Youth,” 
and down past the Barracks. It did Louise good 
to see her mother’s eyes kindle with interest. The 
day w as a warm one, and when the carriage returned 
to the Magnolia a faint pink flush colored Mrs. Mor- 
ton’s cheek. 

“ You ladies had a caller while you were out,” 
the clerk told them as they were about to ascend the 
stairs. “He left his card and this basket of 
oranges.” 

“ Why, it w^as Mr. Winthrop, Mother,” Louise 


MRS. MORTON’S APPEAL 


59 


said, as she glanced at the card. “ How sorry I am 
that we missed him ! He has written on the card 
that the oranges grew in the grounds at Winthrop 
House, but adds that they are not as good as the 
ones which ripen later.” 

Mrs. Morton also regretted having missed Paul 
Winthrop’s call. “ I will write a note of thanks and 
ask him to call again,” she said. 


CHAPTER VI 


AT THE OLD FORT 

S UNDAY morning dawned cool and cloudy, and 
when Louise glanced out of the window it was 
to find the city shrouded in a dense gray mist. The 
girl shivered a little and rang a bell, asking that a 
fire might be started in the sitting-room at once. It 
was not safe for Mrs. Morton to go out, but Louise 
attended church with the Millers, with whom she had 
come to be on friendly terms, and spent the rest of 
the day with her mother reading and talking. 

“ It does not seem possible that Rosalind and Mr. 
Green would attempt to go on a long motor trip such 
a day as this,” Mrs. Morton said. “ Still, Rosalind 
is too reckless to care for the fog, and Mr. Green 
seems inclined to humor her. Sometimes, daughter, 
I wish we had gone to some other place. We can 
do nothing for Rosalind, and it makes us unhappy 
to realize the fate that is before her.” 

A thoughtful look came to Louise’s face. 
“ Mother, I vaguely feel sure that our being here is 
going to be a help to the poor girl. Now do not ask 
me for a reason for what I say, but I feel it to be 
true.” 

An hour before sunset the fog, which had all day 
shrouded the town in a soft but impenetrable dun 
mantle, lifted and a brisk breeze sprang up, and 
60 


AT THE OLD FORT 


G1 


Louise went out for a short walk, going down to the 
Plaza and on to the old fort, where she sat down on 
the low wall. 

“ How' beautiful it is, how peaceful ! ” Louise 
thought. “ Some day mother must come out here 
and go up on the ramparts of the fort to enjoy the 
view. I wish — ” 

Her line of thought was broken into abruptly by 
the consciousness that one of several men who were 
passing had turned around for a second look at her. 
Tlie next moment he started to cross the street, and 
she saw that it was Paul Winthrop. 

“ Now I call this good fortune!” he exclaimed as 
they shook hands. Then he Inquired about her 
mother and, wdien she resumed her seat, sat down at 
her side. 

She expressed her regret that he had found her 
and her mother absent on the occasion of his call. 

“ ]\Iay I come again some day this week?” he 
asked. “ I will bring Aunt Patty w'ith me. She is 
the dearest old lady who ever started out to spoil 
two grown nephews. Just now she is very happy 
because it is settled that Maurice is to locate here.” 

“And your cousin likes his work?” Louise asked. 

“You mean at the hospital? Yes, he likes it, aL 
though it takes but a little of his time. But Maurice 
and I have not been idle. Miss Morton. You see he 
hopes to build up a good general practice beside his 
hospital work. We have rented a dow’n-town office, 
and to-morrow you will see the name of Maurice 
Winthrop, M. D., flung to the breeze.” 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


()2 


“ And may success attend him ! ” Louise cried. 
“ It must be a great pleasure for you both to be in 
your old home.” 

“ It is. My father died three years ago. Aunt 
Patty has never known any other home than Win- 
throp House, so I have kept the place open. This 
year Maurice will be with her, and I shall remain 
here until the hot weather comes. My father hoped 
that I would never part with the old home, and I in'- 
tend to do my best to carry out his wishes.” 

Paul’s words brought to Louise’s mind a memory 
of Rosalind’s use of the name Winthrop, but she dis- 
missed the thought lightly ; there could be no connec- 
tion between the Winthrops and Thomas Green. 

They talked a little of the Ancient City, when Paul 
asked, 

“ Did you not say some friends of yours were to 
be here.f^ It is always such a delight to meet friends 
when one is far from home.” 

“ Yes. One of my girl friends when I was at school 
in Washington is at the Alcazar,” and Louise sighed 
a little. “ It has been a great pleasure to meet her, 
although the circumstances are so unusual that the 
pleasure is mingled with pain. Rosalind and her af- 
fairs are so openly discussed that doubtless you will 
understand when I tell you that she is to be the bride 
in the wedding at Trinity Church next week.” 

An exclamation broke from Paul Winthrop’s lips. 
“ You do not mean. Miss Morton, that it is a friend 
of yours, a girl of your age, who is to marry Thomas 
Green ! ” 


AT THE OLD FORT 


63 


Louise turned her head, although the light was 
growing so dim that it veiled the look of pain that 
came to her face. “ That is what I mean, and the 
surprise in your voice shows me that you understand 
something of my distress. I do not know Mr. Green, 
never met him until yesterday, but I tremble for 
Rosalind’s happiness.” 

“ You may well tremble,” Paul Winthrop said in 
a low voice. “ I know Green well ; at one time my 
father was connected in a business enterprise with 
him. It would do no good for me to tell you what 
a scoundrel he is, but I — Miss Morton, does your 
friend—” 

He stopped short, his face reddening. Louise 
caught her breath. 

“ She will not heed what my mother and I say. 
Do not think too harshly of her, Mr. Winthrop. 
Rosalind has never known what a real home or home 
influence means. Let us talk of something else. As 
you are a resident of the town, I am going to ask 
you what part of the history of the old fort is fact 
and what is fiction.” 

He laughed. “ It must be that you have been 
inveigled into tipping the old custodian to take you 
into the powder-magazine dungeon and tell you his 
blood-curdling tales of chained skeletons, ‘ one of 
whom was a woman.’ But the truth, the history that 
can be authenticated, is a romance that you will en- 
joy. Out at Winthrop House is a collection of man- 
uscripts and books concerning ancient Florida, as 
well as everything that has been written concerning 


64 . 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


the Florida of to-day, that I should like to show to 
you.” 

“ Oh, I should be delighted to see them ! It is not 
easy to put into words the message this smiling land 
of sunshine and balmy air has spoken to me.” 

Paul’s laugh was as merry as that of a boy. “ I 
am glad you like it. St. Augustine is — why, it is 
romance. My father was a student of the city’s 
past and he contributed to the magazines several arti- 
cles about it that were well received.” 

Louise started, in her eagerness leaning forward 
a little nearer her companion. “And you? I do 
not mean to be intrusive, Mr. Winthrop, but will you 
not find the motive for some of your work here? ” 

“ How did you know? Besides my regular work 
on the Herald and my magazine articles I am tr3dng 
to finish a book — a Florida romance — this winter. 
Miss Morton, I must make it a winner! You see I 
have had it in mind ever since I entered college. I 
talked the plot over with my father, and he did much 
research work for me. You must certainly 'see my 
father’s collection of Florida books and manuscripts 
that he was so long gathering.” 

“ I shall be glad to,” Louise said, then sprang up, 
adding, 

“ Why, it is dark ! There is no twilight here as 
at home, and it grows dark so quickly. What a 
night this is for December ! ” 

Paul fell into step with her and w^alked to the ho- 
tel, repeating his promise as he left her that he and 
his aunt would call at some early day. 


• AT THE OLD FORT 


65 


The next morning Louise was awakened by the rain 
dashing against the windows, and thought regret- 
fully that for another day her dear invalid must be 
confined to the house, but Mrs. Morton was feeling 
well, and that was a comfort. Soon after breakfast 
Mrs. Miller, who had learned that Louise w^as a musi- 
cian, carried the girl off to the parlor, where there 
was a piano, and asked her to play and sing, and 
through that rainy forenoon she entertained the in- 
mates of the hotel. In all the chat and gayety Louise 
w'as the central attraction, and she was invited to 
join in several little festivities. While she was grate- 
ful for the kindness shown her, she explained that the 
state of her mother’s health would prevent her taking 
part in social affairs. 

When aftenioon came without any word from 
Rosalind, Louise telephoned to the Alcazar, but after 
waiting for the message to be delivered she was in- 
formed that Miss Huff was engaged. 

“ Now that was Mrs. Dalton’s message, not Rosa- 
lind’s,” Louise thought. “'I shall have to wait until 
Rosalind comes or sends me some word.” 

A little later the light of the gray afternoon had 
begun to fade, and Louise laid aside “ Florida 
Trails ” w’hich she was reading to her mother, when 
suddenly the door opened, without any warning rap, 
and a slender figure arrayed in a raincoat entered. 

Louise sprang forward. “ Rosalind ! How dear 
in you to come! Did you walk.? Why, how wet you 
are I ” 

“ I ran — aw^ay,” and Rosalind, slipping out of 


66 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


her coat, sat down by Mrs. Morton. “ If it rains to- 
morrow I shall commit suicide. But the wedding 
dress came to-day, Louise, and you are to come over 
to-morrow to see it. It is a beauty ! ” 

“ And fits perfectly? ” Louise asked. 

“ It will when Jennings — the woman from the 
dressmaking establishment — is through with it. 
I’ve had it on four times already. Now I want to 
tell you about yesterday.” 

“ Did you go to Daytona ? The fog must have 
spoiled motoring.” 

“ It did, but we went. Indeed Mr. Green seemed 
surprised that the fog dared drift in from the sea 
when he wanted to run his car. We crept along, 
sounding the horn every other minute. Cousin Myra 
was in abject fear and as near being cross before the 
Honorable Mr. Green as she dared be.” 

“ It could not have been a very pleasant day for 
any of you.” 

“ Mr. Green’s friends there have a beautiful winter 
home, and they were nice to me. I was — well, a bit 
reckless and shocked some of the women. We came 
home after the fog cleared. Mrs. Morton, a week 
from to-morrow is my wedding day. A week from 
now will be Rosalind Huff’s last night on earth.” 

“ Do not let us talk of that,” Mrs. Morton said, 
stroking the black head that was so near her arm. 
“ Can you stay for dinner with us ? ” 

“ No, thank you, for no one knows where I am. 
All day, while the rain has tapped against the win- 
dows, and Cousin Myra and Jennings have talked of 


AT THE OLD FORT 


67 


dress, I’ve been thinking of the dreams I used to 
dream. Some poet sang, 

‘ I am sick of the showy seeming 
Of a life that is half a lie; 

Of the faces lined with scheming 
In the throng that hurries by.’ 

Louise, I am sure that poet knew my cousin and my 
husband-to-be.” 

Louise rose to throw fresh fuel upon the fire. A 
blast of wind shook the house, and the rain fell in 
torrents. 

“ Hear the storm ! ” Mrs. Morton exclaimed. 
“ Rosalind, you cannot go back. Let Louise tele- 
phone your cousin and then spend the evening with 
us. They cannot want you to come out in such a 
storm as this.” 

“ I want to go. I want to feel the rain smite my 
face and know that it is powerless to conquer me. 
Tell me what you did yesterday and to-day.” 

She stayed a half-hour longer, chatting gayly. 
Then, starting up, she threw on her cloak and, wait- 
ing only to kiss both Mrs. Morton and Louise, hur- 
ried out of the room and down the stairs. 

The next day was bright and pleasant. In the 
morning Louise walked over to the Alcazar, to see 
the wedding dress. The rooms of the two ladies were 
crowded with beautiful and costly apparel. Mr. 
Green came up soon after Louise’s andval to report 
that the man in Jacksonville had found a fine horse, 


68 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


but the price was a hundred dollars more than he 
had been instructed to paj. 

“ Now what do you say to that, my girl? ” Green 
asked, putting out one hand to catch Rosalind’s 
arm. 

She retreated from him. “ I say what is a hun- 
dred dollars, if you are satisfied.” 

Her accent on the personal pronoun pleased the 
man. He laughed heartily. “ You are a brick. I’ll 
telephone Forbes to close the bargain at once, if 
you’ll — ” and he dropped his voice so low that Louise 
did not hear the concluding words. 

“ All in good time, and here is my hand on it,” 
Rosalind cried, extending her hand. 

“ Now, I’m too practical a business man to amuse 
myself kissing ladies’ hands,” the man declared, “ but 
when lips are denied for a week it must be done,” and 
he kissed the little hand with a resounding smack. 

Louise saw that Rosalind paled with anger. Just 
then Mr. Green was summoned to the office, and the 
talk of clothes went on until Louise returned to her 
mother. 

Wednesday, while the Mortons were at the lunch 
table, a dainty little note came from Rosalind. She 
and Mr. Green were going for an automobile ride that 
afternoon and would call for Mrs. Morton and her 
daughter to go with them. 

“ I am glad the Winthrops sent word they would 
call this afternoon,” and Mrs. Morton sighed. “ Per- 
haps we cannot always avoid Mr. Green’s courtesies, 
but as long as we can we will do it.” 


AT THE. OLD FORT 


69 


When the gray motor stopped in front of the 
Magnolia Louise went down to explain that a note 
had arrived in the morning from Mr. Winthrop say- 
ing that he would bring his aunt to call on the ]Mor- 
tons that afternoon. A disappointed look came to 
Rosalind’s face, while Mr. Green turned sharply upon 
Louise. 

“ Who did you say? Not the Winthrops of Win- 
throp House ? ” 

“ Yes. We have never met Miss Winthrop, 
but — ” 

“ And how does it come that you know that upstart 
Paul.^ Or is it the swaggering young doctor that 
you know.^ ” 

To Louise the tone was plainly insolent. She 
waited a second before replying, her eyes squarely 
meeting those of Mr. Green. “ We made the ac- 
quaintance of both Doctor and JMr. Winthrop while 
on our way down here. They were very kind when 
mother was so ill on the train.” 

“ Well, the less you know of them the better it 
Avill be for you. Come, Rosalind, we might as well 
be off.” 

“ But I’m not sure I care to go if — ” 

IMr. Green had returned to his seat in the car. 
He interrupted Rosalind to bid the chauffeur start. 
Louise watched the car pass from sight, then went 
back up stairs to wait the arrival of the expected 
guests. 


CHAPTER VII 


WEDDING PREPARATIONS 


HEN Miss Patty Wintlirop appeared she was 



V V escorted by both her nephews. Miss Patty 
was a plump little woman with smiling blue eyes. 
Pier brown hair, still untouched by time, framed her 
gentle face in old-fashioned crimps. She wore a 
pretty gray silk and carried a bouquet of fine roses. 
Her greeting to the two ladies was most cordial. 

“ Now I’m right glad to welcome you to our beau- 
tiful city. The boys told me you two were alone 
here, and I reckon it must be a little lonely for you 
at a hotel. Not but what there are people enough, 
but not many of your sort. The roses are for you, 
Mrs. Morton. No, not many of them are out-doors 
ones. We have a wee conservatory, so as to make 
sure we will have flowers enough for the house should 
the weather be too cool for out-doors blossoming.” 

“ This has always been your home, has it not. Miss 
Winthrop ? ” Louise asked when they were all seated. 

“ Yes, my dear, I was born at Winthrop House, 
and I hope to die there, unless, when Paul gets a wife 
she finds me in the way, or — well, there are some 
other complications just now,” and the spinster’s face 
reddened, as if she had just remembered something 
unpleasant. 

“ Now that fear is assumed. Miss Morton,” the 


70 


WEDDING PREPARATIONS 


71 


young owner of Winthrop House announced with a 
laugh. “ Aunt Patty knows I’d not dare marry 
Avithout her consent. One of the promises my bride 
will be expected to make at the altar Avill be to obey 
her new aunt wdth the same meekness and docility 
that I always have. Now you need not smile, 
IMaurice. Any girl who takes you and your medicine- 
case Avill have to make the same promise.” 

“0 Paul! What Avill Mrs. Morton think You 
must not mind them, my dear Mrs. Morton. But 
they have been two good boys to me.” 

The young men began to talk of other things ; they 
had no idea of alloAving Miss Patty to begin to sound 
their praises. They discussed the famous old city 
and talked a little of books. It was an hour later 
when Miss Winthrop rose. 

“ What a dreadfully long call we have made, for 
a first one! And I’ve enjoyed it so much! Paul’s 
automobile has just come home to-day from the re- 
pair shop, and he shall bring you out to Winthrop 
House. When shall it be, Mrs. Morton ? ” 

That lady looked over at her daughter. “ Thank 
you. Miss Winthrop. Had we not better Avait until 
after the Avedding, dear? ” • 

“ I remember Paul told me that the young lady 
Avho is to marry Thomas Green is a friend of yours,” 
IMiss Patty said a* little shai^Aly. “ Some one else 
told me that she is a great beauty.” 

Again Paul tactfully changed the subject of con- 
versation, and Maurice turned to Louise, saying, 

“ Ransome, Avho boards here, is a friend of mine. 


72 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


He told me about your singing. When you visit 
Winthrop House Paul and I are going to beg for 
some music.” 

“ Now that is putting the case strongly, Doctor 
Winthrop. A simple request will bring you what 
you desire. But if you two are musical you may be 
disappointed.” 

“ Oh, we are musical all right, only, like many 
others, our skill is situated In our ears. However, 
Paul always keeps the piano in tune. Aunt Patty 
plays the exercises she practised at school forty years 
ago, and Paul and I sing, when we are sure no one 
will hear us. We do not mind each other, because 
it is hard to tell which one of us makes the worst 
noise.” 

“ I call that libel,” Paul cried. “ But, Miss Mor- 
ton, I echo what the learned doctor said about our 
eagerness to hear you.” 

“ You will come and make an all-day’s visit, will 
you not.''” Miss Winthrop asked, holding Louise’s 
hand. 

Louise promised, and both she and her mother 
went down stairs with their guests. The day w'as so 
warm and bright that Mrs. Morton sat down on the 
veranda. 

“ What a dear little woman she is ! ” Louise cried, 
her eyes shining. “ Did you ever see such pride in 
anything as she has in her ‘ boys ’.^ Why did I not 
ask them in what direction Winthrop House is? I 
may have passed it in my rambles.” 


WEDDING PREPARATIONS 


73 


The following' morning Mr. and Mrs. Miller asked 
the Mortons to go to South Beach with them. Mrs. 
Morton did not feel strong enough for the trip, but 
she insisted on Louise going, and the three spent a 
delightful morning gathering shells and chatting. 

They did not return to the hotel until lunch-time, 
when Louise found a note from Rosalind waiting her. 
It contained an urgent request that she would come 
to the Alcazar that afternoon and give her opinion 
concerning some alterations that Mrs. Dalton insisted 
should be made in one of the dinner gowns that had 
arrived from New York. 

“ But I have left you alone all the moming,’^ 
Louise said, looking thoughtfully at her mother. 

“ I wrote two long letters home, and that occupied 
all my time. Mrs. Carr has asked Mrs. Lancaster 
and myself to join her in a carriage ride this after- 
noon, and you will feel freer to grant Rosalind’s re- 
quest if you think I am enjoying myself. I think 
you would better plan to give Rosalind as much of 
your time as she desires this last week.” 

Following her mother’s suggestion, Louise spent 
much of the remainder of the week with Rosalind. , 
Mrs. Dalton was determined that all the work on the 
trousseau should be completed by Saturday night, 
saying to Louise, 

“ Sunday Mr. Green is planning a dinner party 
for the bridesmaids and ushers on his yacht, which 
will arrive Saturday. Then I want Rosalind to rest 
Monday and Tuesday. Do you not think she is look- 


74 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


ing ill, Miss Morton? She is feverish and excited 
much of the time.” 

“ Rosalind is exceedingly nervous, so much so that 
I am uneasy about her,” Louise replied. 

“ Well, two days’ rest will give her back something 
of her usual manner. Mr. Green does not under- 
stand ; he likes this nervous excitement of hers. When 
I told him it was unnatural he said he found it most 
becoming.” 

In some ways it was a new Rosalind who tried on the 
garments, suggested alterations in them, and admired 
their beauty. The girl was, as her cousin had said, 
in a state of nervous excitement that Louise some- 
times feared would end in collapse. She admired the 
beautiful and costly things that crowded the suite of 
rooms occupied by herself and her cousin. When 
she spoke of the life that stretched before her it was 
always to plan gayeties, and she did it with relish. 

Notwithstanding her nervousness, Rosalind was 
strangely kind and considerate to all about her. To 
Louise she was all tenderness, laughing over the mem- 
ories of their schoolgirl days, planning little pleasures 
for Mrs. Morton, and insisting on including Louise 
in the plans she made for future social triumphs. She 
treated Mrs. Dalton politely but with coolness. 

Thus far Rosalind had been somewhat capricious in 
her treatment of her fellow-guests at the Alcazar, 
including the girls who were to be her bridesmaids, 
but suddenly she began to manifest towards them a 
friendliness that seemed so hearty and was so pretty 
and attractive that it met with a ready response. 


WEDDING PREPARATIONS 


75 


But it was Rosalind’s conduct towards Mr. Green 
that surprised Louise and enabled her to understand 
her friend’s attraction for the man and his willingness 
to lavish money upon her. Thomas Green’s interest 
in persons or things could be measured by his will- 
ingness to give them the money he so prized. 

Rosalind teased him, she tempted him with her 
loveliness, and made him proud of her charms. Twice 
the girl herself suggested that he should be called in 
to see her in a ravishing costume. 

It was on the last one of these occasions, on Sat- 
urday morning, when she was dressed in a white lace 
over a pale pink satin, that he seemed especially 
pleased. Rosalind greeted him with a shy aloofness 
that increased his infatuation. At last he cried, 

“ Now it is diamonds she must have to wear with 
that, isn’t it, Mrs. Dalton.?” 

Rosalind shook her head. “ With this I shall wear 
my pearls — my beautiful pearls — and a single pale 
pink rose in my hair. Why should we talk of dia- 
monds.? I haven’t any.” 

The man laughed good-naturedly. “ Perhaps 
Rosalind Huff hasn’t, but in a week’s time we will see 
what Mrs. Thomas Green has. There is no reason 
why she should not have anything she — and her 
husband — wants.” 

■ Rosalind swept him a graceful courtesy. “ She 
will not be extravagant, really she will not. If only 
the horse suits her and — you.” 

“ It shall, my dear,” and the man’s florid face was 
wreathed in a smile which he meant to be affectionate. 


76 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ If he doesn’t, we’ll find another one that does. And 
that reminds me that I must go out to the stable now 
and look him over.” 

“ Oh, has he come.'* I wish I could go with you.” 

“ He was due on an early train. I’ll have him 
brought round after lunch for your ladyship to see.” 

“ Let’s go for a ride this afternoon,” Rosalind 
coaxed. “ I am eager to try him. Think of being 
borne along like the wind on your own horse ! ” 

“ Now you can’t go out to-day, Rosalind, if we 
do the things we’ve planned,” interrupted Mrs. Dal- 
ton. “ Besides you are too nervmus and excited to 
attempt to ride a strange horse. There’ll be time 
enough when you are back from Palm Beach.” 

Rosalind pouted, and Mr. Green was annoyed. It 
W'as seldom that his betrothed treated him with such 
sweetness, and he had no idea of having it spoiled by 
Mrs. Dalton’s interference. 

“ I don’t think you better ride him to-day, dear ; 
I want the groom to try him out first. But 
there are three days before the one that makes me the 
happiest of men, and we will see.” 

He lingered a little, watching Rosalind with a 
smiling face. When he did go she accompanied him 
to the door, and no sooner had she turned back to 
the room than Mrs. Dalton began fretfully, 

“ Now, Rosalind, I want you to give up all idea 
of mounting that horse until after the wedding is 
over! You haven’t eaten as much as a single meal 
in the last three days, and your hands are as hot 


WEDDING PREPARATIONS 


77 


“ Stop, Cousin Myra ! ” Rosalind cried angrily. 
“ I will not have any interference. I am nervous, 
and I waiTi you that if once I lose control of myself 
there will be trouble. Now, Jennings, if you will 
help me off with this.” 

Louise stayed for lunch that day. Rosalind only 
toyed with the food on her plate, but she talked 
gayly, asking questions about the horse and keeping 
Mr. Green in a gale of laughter with her sallies of 
wit. 

When they rose Rosalind paused to speak to a girl 
who sat at another table, and as she did so the bright 
color suddenly faded from her face and she fell to the 
floor fainting. 

The dining-room was instantly in a state of uproar. 
It was Louise who said to Thomas Green, 

“ Carry her up to her room. She is very light, 
and you can do it easily.” 

He obeyed, blustering and scolding. A doctor 
Avas summoned, but when he reached Rosalind’s room 
it was to find the gii’l sitting up, laughing at the 
frightened ^aces of those who were gathered around 
her bed. 

“Why did you send for a physician.? Doctor, 
tills is a way I often take to get up stairs. I would 
never have forgiven you people if you had thrown 
water on me and wet my pretty blouse.” 

She w^ould not listen to the physician’s suggestion 
that she should keep quiet, and as soon as she could 
get Mr. Green out of the room she rose and began 
to give orders to Jennings about the things that were 


78 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


to be packed for her wedding journey, working fever- 
ishly, talking, laughing, and singing. 

When Louise started back to the Magnolia she 
left Rosalind and her cousin jangling about the horse, 
which Mr. Green had promised to send to the hotel 
a half-hour later for the girl to see. Mrs. Dalton 
fretted and scolded, but Rosalind would not consent 
to the order being countermanded. 


CHAPTER Vni 


Rosalind’s wilfulness 

S UNDAY morning after breakfast Louise- and her 
mother sat down on the veranda, talking with 
Mrs. Miller, when suddenly they saw Rosalind walk- 
ing rapidly down the street. She wore a simple white 
linen dress and a cardinal sweater. Her head was 
uncovered, and her black hair glistened in the rays of 
the sun. On catching Louise’s eye she waved her 
hand, calling, “Now. don’t say you are surprised to 
see me so early. Good morning, Mrs. Morton.” 

She ran lightly up the veranda steps and bent 
down to kiss Mrs. Morton. After a friendly greeting 
to Mrs. Miller, whom she had met before, Rosalind 
sat down on the arm of Mrs. Morton’s chair. 

“ Y ou are better than yesterday, my dear ? ” the 
elder woman asked. 

“ I am perfectly well. Mrs. Morton, I have in- 
vited myself to spend the day with you and Louise. 
Will you accept my company ? ” 

“ What caused Mr. Green to give up the brides- 
maid luncheon on the Rosalind? ” Louise asked. 
Rosalind shrugged her shoulders, saying pettishly, 
“ He has not givon it up, but I am not goring. It 
will be a stupid affair; why should I trouble myself 
with it.?” 

For a moment no one spoke. Then Rosalind began 
79 


80 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


to talk of the beauty of the morning and the Avater. 
It was ten minutes before Louise succeeded in get- 
ting her guest upstairs, when she asked a little per- 
emptorily, 

“ Rosalind, what is the meaning of this? ” 

“ Now I suppose I shall have to tell you 1 ” There 
was a defiant look on Rosalind’s face, but the flush 
of the day before had faded, leaving her very pale. 
“ It is all Cousin Myra’s fault ; if she had not inter- 
fered Mr. Green would have taken me for a gallop 
this morning, and then all would have been well.” 

“ There has been more trouble about the horse? ” 
Louise asked. 

“ Louise, the horse is a beauty. His name is 
Prince John and he is as black as my hair. There 
is a wicked light in his eyes ; I am sure it will be a 
positive joy to conquer him.” 

“ See here, Rosalind,” Louise cried sharply. 
“ You really knoAv very little about riding. I wish 
you would give up the idea of attempting to ride a 
high-spirited horse of which even Mr. Green knows 
little.” 

“Indeed! Your ideas and those of Cousin Myra 
are strangely alike. Beware, my dear. Her inter- 
ference will bring a storm about her ears a little 
later.” 

“ Please, Rosalind, tell us just what has hap- 
pened. w There has been a quarrel of some sort.” 

“ The quarrel is yet to come. Now here is the 
story in a few words. I went wild with delight over 
Prince John, and Mr. Green promised to take me for 


ROSALIND’S WILFULNESS 


81 


a ride early this morning. When Cousin Myra found 
it out she declared I could not go. Now she knew I 
would laugh at her authority, but she told Mr. Green 
that I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, 
and that if I did not get all the rest possible in the 
next three days I would never be able to go through 
with that tiresome marriage ceremony. 

“ Cousin Myra will be heard ; she w'ill talk so long 
and so loud that one cannot but listen to her. Mr. 
Green listened, and — Louise, he dared tell me that 
he thought it best for me not to go for the ride. I 
reminded him of his promise, and he said I must trust 
his judgment. Well, I warned both him and Myra 
that they would regret what they were doing, and I 
think they will, when the guests assemble on the 
Rosalind for a bridesmaids’ luncheon and there is 
no bride.” 

As Rosalind had talked, hurriedly, in a voice that 
was a half note higher than her usual one, the vivid 
red again flushed her cheeks. She leaned her head 
against the high back of the chair in which she was 
sitting, beating a tattoo on the floor with one white- 
shod foot. JNIrs. Morton and her daughter ex- 
changed troubled glances. 

“ But, Rosalind, you will have to go back,” Louise 
began. “ What will — ” 

“ Now, I don’t care a straw what they do. I left 
a note on the dressing-table saying that, as they 
thought I needed rest, I w'as going to give myself a 
quiet day. While I made no mention of you people, 
doubtless Cousin Myra will be telephoning here in a 


82 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


short time. I’ll attend to the answei'ing. Surely, 
^Irs. Morton, you do not approve of my spending 
Sunday in the way that was planned for me? ” 

“ You know, Rosalind, that I do not approve of 
this ' wedding,” Mrs. Morton said almost sternly. 
“ However, if you disapproved of the luncheon, the 
time for you to have protested was when the plan 
was being made.” 

“ I did not disapprove then ; Mr. Green had not 
broken his promise to me. He might as well leani 
that I am not to be trifled with. Now let us talk of 
something else.” 

In a few minutes a maid tapped at the door with 
the message, “ You are wanted at the telephone, Miss 
Morton.” 

Rosalind rose, saying, “ I might as well go down 
with you, for of course it is Cousin Myra,” and the 
two walked down to the office where the telephone was 
situated. Louise took the receiver in her hand, call- 
ing: 

“ Hello!” 

“ You, Louise? This is Mrs. Dalton.” 

“ Yes, Mrs. Dalton.” 

“Is Rosalind there? She has disappeared, leav- 
ing the most insolent note, and Mr. Green is furi- 
ous.” 

“ Yes, she is here.” 

That was all Louise said, and there was a brief 
silence. When Mrs. Dalton was convinced that the 
girl at the other end of the wire was not going to say 
more she snapped. 


ROSALIND’S WILFULNLSS 


83 


“ Call her.” 

“ She is here. Rosalind, Mrs. Dalton wants to 
talk with you.” 

' Louise stepped back. She frowned a little as her 
eyes went round the room. Several men were loung- 
ing there, reading the morning papers. It was easy 
to see that, notwithstanding each one’s simulated 
absorption in his paper, all were aware that the girl 
at the telephone was the one who was to marry the 
rich Mr. Green three days later. 

Rosalind spoke in a low voice. She said little, 
seemingly answering direct questions by a single af- 
firmative or denial. At last she said, “ This is a 
public telephone. Cousin Myra; please remember 
that. I am not going. Is it necessary to say 
more ? ” 

Whatever Mrs. Dalton said in reply angered the 
girl. The color deepened in her cheeks. “ Of course 
he will suit himself. Good-by,” and with a steady 
hand she replaced the receiver on the hook, then 
joined Louise. 

Without speaking the two girls went back up 
stairs. When they reached the sitting-room Rosa- 
lind looked over at Mrs. Mortbn. 

“ Cousin Myra is in a towering rage. She had 
the advantage of me ; she was using a room telephone, 
and only the operator could hear her warn me that, 
if Mr. Green did not die of anger and apoplexy, he 
would doubtless publicly jilt me.” 

“What will you do if her prophecy is fulfilled.? ” 
Louise asked. 


84 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Well, I can hardly force the man to marry nie at 
the point of a gun. Of course I’ll regret my beau- 
tiful Prince John, but it seems he is not mine, for I 
am to ride him only when Cousin Myra is willing. 
If Mr. Green and I openly quarrel I am going to 
advise him to marry Cousin Myra. I’ve longed to 
do it all the time. Why, dear Mrs. Morton, what 
is it ? ” 

Tears filled the widow’s eyes and it was a moment 
before she could trust her voice to say, “ Rosalind, it 
pains me to hear you talk in this way. It is un- 
worthy of you.” 

“ But you have said you did not want me to marry 
IMr. Green.” 

“ I do not, and I would be glad, even now, if the 
engagement could be broken. But I would want it 
done in a way that would not make you feel ashamed 
of yourself.” 

Rosalind caught her crimson lower lip between 
her teeth and bit it until the blood came. It cost 
her an effort to maintain the air of bravado with 
which she said, “ Oh, I am ashamed of myself so 
much of the time that once more does not count. 
Don’t let us talk of it. Shall we go to church ” 

Ten minutes later Thomas Green’s car stopped 
before the Magnolia. Rosalind sat near a window ; 
when she saw Mr. Green dismount for a moment her 
face grew ghastly: then she summoned all her cour- 
age. 

“ Doubtless it will not be a pleasant interview. If 
you two prefer' — ” 


ROSALIND’S WILFULNESS 


85 


Louise internipted her. “ Would you prefer to 
see him alone, Rosalind ? ” 

“ No, no! You two are my best friends.” 

It was Louise who opened the door. Mr. Green 
had accompanied the servant up stairs, and he said, 
in a low, tense voice, 

“ I want to see Miss Huff at once.” 

Throwing the door wide open Louise motioned for 
him to enter, glancing searchingly at him as she did 
so. He was very angry, but he was also bewildered ; 
he could not understand how Rosalind dared offer 
him the affront she had. 

Mr. Green did not notice Mrs. Morton by so much 
as a look. He halted just inside the door, fixing his 
cold, pale-blue eyes on Rosalind’s face. 

“ I came to take you back to the Alcazar, Rosa- 
lind. You will have only time to dress before we go 
on the yacht.” 

“ You have not said good-morning to Mrs. Morton, 
Mr. Green.” 

The tone was so commonplace that, against his 
will, Thomas Green felt obliged to nod his head in 
the direction of the window and murmur some unin- 
telligible words. Then he said, “ Come. There is 
no time to waste.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Green. It was very kind in ' 
you to come for me, but I am going to stay here with 
my friends to-day. I am not going to attend the 
luncheon on the Rosalind.^* 

She said the words slowly, calmly, and her eyes 
met his, but she had to clench her hands to keep them 


86 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


from trembling. Thomas Green advanced a step, 
swallowing a little, as if choking with rage. 

“ How dare you I I’ll not be humiliated by a slip 
of a girl like you. If you do not go, I shall be a 
laughing stock for the town. Is this your work, 
madam ? ” and he turned fiercely upon Mrs. Morton. 

Louise pushed forward to stand behind her 
mother’s chair. Before she could speak, Rosalind 
said, 

“ The Mortons have nothing to do with it. There 
is no one accountable for my decision save myself, 
although you and Cousin Myra drove me to it.” 

“ Do you mean about the horse ” he demanded, 
“ I wish I had never bought it.” 

“ No one asked you to buy it until you offered to 
do so. No one asked you to lavish the money you 
have on me. But I did expect you to keep your 
word. If you do not, why should I ? ” 

He muttered an oath. “ If you was my wife, I’d 
show you. But I tell you, you must go back with 
me. You must!” 

A mocking little laugh broke from Rosalind’s lips. 
“ You can say must, but you cannot force me to go, 
any more than I can force you to keep your word 
about my ride on Prince John.” 

The strong man trembled with rage. Yet he was 
driven to bargain with her ; he saw that there was no 
other way to save himself from the ridicule of all who 
knew of the party he was about to give. 

There was a moment of tense silence in the room, 
broken only by the sound of passing wheels. Sud- 


ROSALIND’S WILFULNESS 


87 


denly the church bells of the town began to ring 
their first summons to worship. Thomas Green drew 
in his breath with a loud, explosive sound. 

“ See here, Rosalind, this time you have won, but 
beware of the next. On what terms will you accom- 
pany me back to the Alcazar and dress for the party 
on the yacht ? ” 

She smiled. “ I am not sure that I want to go on 
any terms.” 

“ Please do,” he said more gently than they could 
have expected him to speak. “ Mrs. Dalton means 
well, but I see I must not let her come between us. 
There is not time to give you your promised ride on 
Prince John now, but he shall be at the hotel door 
to-morrow at this time, and I will take you for a 
ride, no matter what Mrs. Dalton says.” 

“ But how do I know that you will keep your word 
to-morrow any more than you kept it to-day ? ” 

His flushed face paled with the fierceness of his 
wrath, but he knew he must control it. If that slen- 
der, mocking girl was not appeased, on the morrow 
all Florida would ring with the story of Thomas 
Green’s discomfiture. 

“ So you doubt my word ! ” he blustered. 

“ I did not until you broke it. Before you had 
played fair,” and in her eyes there was something of 
the tantalizing charm that had so appealed to him. 

“ You can trust me; I swear I will keep my word. 
Even if I did not want to keep it, I would hardly 
risk another such scene as this.” 

“ Will you come over to the Alcazar to-morrow, 


88 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Louise, and see me off? ” Rosalind asked. “ I want 
you to see what a beauty Prince John is.” 

“ Dear, why will you insist on riding that horse ? 
You know it is not wise.” 

“ Surely you do not expect me to be wise I I am 
going to ride him because I want to do it. Will you 
come? ” 

Louise hesitated. Both mother and daughter were 
grieved and puzzled. What would be the final result 
of the girl’s wilfulness? Suddenly Rosalind sprang 
up. 

“ Now I’ll ^have to dress in a scramble. Why 
didn’t you come earlier? Good-by, Mrs. Morton. I 
wish you could see me in the dream of a dress I am 
going to wear. Don’t forget your promise, Louise,” 
and she ran out of the room, closely followed by ]\Ir. 
Green. 

Mrs. Morton and Louise sat in silence for a mo- 
ment. Then the daughter said a little resentfully, 

“ Rosalind has no right to bring her silly quarrel 
here to trouble you, mother dear. You are pale and 
tired, and instead of going to church you must lie 
down.” 

^‘You are right, my child. O Louise! I tremble 
for the happiness of that wayward, headstrong girl. 
If I read that man’s face rightly, he will make her 
pay, and pay dearly, for the humiliation she has sub- 
jected him to to-day.” 

Louise sighed. “ Of course he will. Yet I imag- 
ine Rosalind will be all sweetness to him for the rest 
of the day and will make him proud of her beauty 


ROSALIND’S WILFULNESS 


89 


and brilliancy. Mrs. Dalton is unwise to interfere, 
but I wish the horse had never been thought of. 
Rosalind knows very little about riding, and she is 
— not so much fearless as reckless.” 

Mrs. Morton tried to smilje. “ We must not let 
the poor girl’s unreasonableness rob us of our peace- 
ful Sunday. Will you go to church, Louise ” 

The girl shook her head. “ I am too excited to 
face a crowd of strangers. If you will lie down I will 
read to you. We have our religious papers from 
home and several good books.* We shall have to miss 
the service this morning.” 

During the afternoon Paul Wlnthrop and Miss 
Patty dropped in for a quiet little chat, Paul saying 
as they left, 

“ When this wedding is over and you ladies have 
leisure, either Maurice or I will come in after you 
some morning, and you shall spend the day at Win- 
throp House with Aunt Patty.” 

The long restful day atoned for the excitement of 
the morning, and Mrs. Morton felt quite like herself 
when she went down to tea. She and Louise rather 
looked for a telephone message or a note from Rosa- 
lind during the late afternoon, but none came, and 
they wondered several times how the day had passed 
with her. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE RIDE ON PRINCE JOHN 


OUISE woke early the next morning. From 



J— i where she lay she could look out of her win- 
dow, and she saw that the outside world was en- 
veloped is a dense fog. 

“If it would only rain ! ” she thought, “ then 
Rosalind would be obliged to give up her ride. But 
would she.'’ I do not understand her determination 
to ride that horse, but I have given up trying to 
understand Rosalind. Poor girl ! In spite of her 
wilfulness and wrong-doing, she has crept closer 
into my heart than ever before.” 

Then Louise’s thought wandered to her mother. 
While they had been in St. Augustine but a short 
time, ]Mrs. Morton’s improvement was apparent. 
The girl’s heart grew light when she thought of her 
mother’s probable restoration to full health. 

“ After Rosalind’s wedding is over I must find a 
piano in some quiet place that I can rent for a couple 
of hours’ practice each day,” she said to herself as 
she rose and began to dress. • “ The one thing 
mother is anxious about is my music. If I cannot 
have lessons this winter, I must keep in practice.” 

At breakfast the weather came up for discussion. 
Mrs. Graves, a native Floridaian, scoffed at the idea 
of the day being an unpleasant one. 


90 


THE RIDE ON PRINCE JOHN 


91 


“ It’s not that kind of a fog,” she declared. 
“ You Northerners have not learned to tell the dif- 
ference between them. Why, it is lifting now, and 
in an hour the sun will be shining.” 

Her prophecy was verified; when it was time for 
Louise to start for the Alcazar the sunlight lay like 
a flood of gold over the streets. 

On her way she went to the postoffice to mail some 
letters. As she emerged from the building she was 
joined by Doctor Winthrop. He greeted her cor- 
dially and walked along at her side. 

“ I was disappointed not to call with my aunt and 
cousin yesterday. Miss Morton. Paul thought your 
mother was looking much better.” 

“ She is improving, thank you. Doctor Winthrop. 
This air is giving her an appetite, and it tempts her 
out of doors.” 

They .talked a little of the invalid as they crossed 
the street to the Plaza. Early as it was, nearly all 
of the seats were filled. Maurice Winthrop con- 
ducted his companion to an empty one. 

“ Will you not sit down for a few minutes. Miss 
Morton? I have already made my morning visit to 
the hospital, and, as I have no outside calls, I am on 
my way back to Winthrop House. Paul and I are 
to conclude a thorough search we have been making 
in the library. After the death of Paul’s father, 
two years ago, a valuable paper proved to be miss- 
ing. We cannot give up the idea that it is in the 
library, but thus far the most thorough search has 
failed to bring it to light.” 


92 


PAYING TPIE TRICE! 


Louise hesitated a moment, then sat down. “ I 
trust your search will prove successful. ’ I am on my 
way to the Alcazar this morning.” 

Maurice Winthrop leaned forward, his face kin- 
dling as he said, “ I have twice seen on the street 
your friend, the beautiful Miss Huff, who is to marry 
Thomas Green. What a lovely face she has ! ” 

“ Rosalind is a beautiful girl.” Louise tried to 
speak in a casual tone but failed. 

The young doctor’s face hardened. “ Too beau- 
tiful, too young, and too little acquainted with the 
real nature of Thomas Green to be sacrificed. 
Pardon me. Miss Morton. I know I should not say 
such things to you, but when I looked into that 
girl’s face I wished that I might show her what is 
before her.” 

“ She would not see. While she instinctively 
shrinks from Mr. Green, she thinks that because he 
has given her her own way in some things, after mar- 
riage she can rule him. I am afraid she will learn 
her mistake when it is too late.” 

“ She rule him I INIiss Morton, you do not know 
Green. He is cruel, vindictive, brutal. Besides he 
is a thief and a liar. Strong words, you say, but 
some day I am going to tell you how he is trying to 
rob Paul, simply because he thinks he has the chance 
to do it. Once Miss Huff is in his power he will 
break her heart.” 

“ I fear something like that. Mother and I have 
tried to persuade Rosalind, even at this late day, to 
break her engagement, but she will not listen to us. 


THE RIDE ON PRINCE JOHN 


93 


She never knew a mother’s care, never had the joy 
of liome life. Her cousin and guardian, Mrs. Dal- 
ton, is a worldly woman; for years she has looked 
upon the girl’s beauty as a means of obtaining ease 
and luxury. She has taught Rosalind to love dis- 
play and has almost forced her to believe that only • 
a so-called good marriage stood between her and 
want. It is a tragedy ! ” 

“ Ah, what a pity ! ” said Maurice Winthrop, very 
much moved. “ If only she could be saved ! Yet 
we are all powerless. And she is so — But it is 
cruel for me to increase your uneasiness. Pray for- 
give me. Miss Morton.” 

She stood up, a grave look on her face. “ You 
do not need to ask my pardon. Doctor Winthrop. 
The fault was largely mine. I do not often discuss 
the affairs of my friends, but my heart was so full 
that I could think of nothing else. If only Rosalind 
could be saved, saved in any way ! ” 

Maurice walked at her side to the door of the 
hotel, and Louise went at once up to Rosalind’s room. 

The bride-elect was breakfasting in bed. She 
wore a pink silk kimono, and the faithful Jennings 
hovered near, urging her to eat. As Louise entered 
the room she heard the woman say: 

“ Just half a grapefruit and a cup of coffee ! 
That is no breakfast, not if you are going on a long 
ride.” 

Rosalind smiled up at Jennings, and, at the same 
time, held out her hand to welcome Louise. 

“ I’ve been looking for you for a half-hour, dear,” 


94 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


she said. “ Take the tray away, Jennings. Per- • 
haps the ride will give me an appetite. You’ve been 
dear to me. Louise, how is your mother this morn- 
ing.? ” 

“ Very well, thank you. How does it come about 
that I find you in bed.? It’s nearly ten. You 
haven’t given up the ride.? ” 

“ Indeed I have not,” and Rosalind yawned, 
stretching her arms above her head. “ Sit down here 
by me, Louise. How fresh and sweet you look! 
You see I am staying in bed this morning to punish 
Cousin Myra.” 

“ Now what do you mean, Rosalind.? ” 

“ It’s just this way. She has been in a bad hu- 
mor with me ever since the night before last. Yes- 
terday she was prepared to do the sympathetic act 
— pity Mr. Green because I had treated him so 
badly. And I — I outdid myself, Louise, and that 
man was never so proud of me as he was yesterday. 
He likes me to sit at the table with him for meals. 
This morning I sent him a note, saying I regretted 
not breakfasting with him, but that Myra had said 
so much about my resting to-day that I felt I must 
stay in bed until it was time for us to start on our 
ride. Of course she was furious.” 

Louise sighed. “ I am sorry, Rosalind, that you 
feel like annoying your cousin. It does no good.” 

“ It is good discipline for her, besides it relieves 
me. So easily, Louise, she might have won my love, 
for all my life I have been hungry for love! I am 
making a sad mess of my existence, but I am not 


THE RIDE ON PRINCE JOHN 


95 


entirely to blame. The clock is striking ten. It 
M’ill not take me long to dress, for I have had my 
bath, and my habit is laid out ready for me. And 
it will do Mr. Green good to wait a half-hour ; he 
needs to learn patience.” 

A little later she sprang up and seated herself 
before the dressing table to do her heavy black hair. 
Jennings came in to help her dress. The habit was 
black with many gold buttons and much gold braid. 
A soft black hat was set well back on the girl’s head, 
its only color a gilt band. Rosalind walked back 
and forth before the mirror, a handglass in her hand, 
scrutinizing her reflection. 

“ I am glad my habit is black ; no other color 
would look so well on Prince John. We will make 
a picture. How I wish I could see both our reflec- 
tions in a mirror ! ” 

“ If you would tell Mr. Green that. Miss Huff, I 
am sure he would manage to gratify your desire,” 
Jennings said with a smile. 

Instead of replying Rosalind walked over to 
Louise. “ You may go now, Jennings. Louise, I 
want to thank you for all you have been to me these 
last few days. Dear, you have saved my heart from 
breaking. Promise me that you will always be my 
friend, no matter what may come.” 

Louise realized that she would be powerless to aid 
the headstrong girl in any material way, but the 
appeal touched her, and she put her hand caressingly 
on Rosalind’s arm, saying, “ Always and ever your 
friend, dear. Now here is Mrs. Dalton.” 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


9G 

“ Mr. Green has waited an hour, Rosalind. Shall 
I tell him you are not going? ” 

“ He would not take that message from you, 
Cousin Myra. It has not been an hour, and, if it 
had, waiting would be good for him. Come, Louise, 

I want you to see me off.’^ 

The girls went down stairs followed by Mrs. Dal- 
ton. In the court a party, evidently waiting for 
Rosalind’s appearance, joined them. Retta Hunt, 
who was to be one of the bridesmaids, said, 

“We want to see you' start, Miss Huff. The 
horse is certainly a beauty, but I do not see how 
you dare ride him.” 

Rosalind laughed. “ Why, there is nothing to be 
afraid of. Have you met my friend, my very dear 
friend. Miss Morton?” 

When the two girls emerged from the court on 
to the street, the others accompanied them. Out- 
side the gate a score of men were gathered around 
two horses. From one of them, a big strong gray, 
jMr. Green had just dismounted, and a groom was 
holding the other. As the men drew back, on the 
approach of the ladies, a cry of admiration broke 
from Louise’s lips. 

“ He is a beauty, Rosalind 1 But he looks unman- 
ageable, and I am afraid for you.” 

Prince John was jet black. He was spirited, 
holding his head proudly. His slender legs were 
perfectly shaped and his mane and tail glistened in 
the sunlight. 

“Isn’t he a magnificent thing?” Rosalind de- 


THE RIDE ON PRINCE JOHN 9T 

manded. “ See the fire in his eyes ! When he comes 
to know me how I shall love him ! ” 

One of the men who had been admiring the horse 
pushed nearer to Green. He lowered his voice, but 
all heard him say, 

“ Pardon me, sir, but I hope you are not going to 
let that slender girl ride this horse. My name is 
Clark, and I am from Kentucky. I’ve had to do 
with horses all my life, and this is an ugly brute.” 

Thomas Green eyed the man superciliously. “ I 
don’t agree with you, Clark of Kentucky. I call him 
a beauty.” 

“ But he has never been mastered ; it is easy to 
see that. Then he is nervous, starting at every 
sound. Unless your daughter is a practised horse- 
woman with a grip of steel it is dangerous for her 
to mount the horse.” 

His daughter ! There was subdued laughter 
among the onlookers, and Green’s face reddened 
angrily as he turned his back upon the speaker. 

“ Come, Rosalind. Are you ready at last? You 
are not afraid? ” 

Defiantly the girl threw back her head. “ Afraid? 
No, indeed ! ” 

Louise could not keep back one last appeal. 

“ I am afraid for her, Mr. Green,” she cried. “ I 
wish you would persuade her to wait until the groom 
has tried the horse out.” 

]\Ir. Green frowned upon Louise almost as haugh- 
tily as he had upon Mr. Clark. “ We are not the 
waiting kind, Rosalind and I. Why, we would go 


98 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


on this ride if all the hobgoblins you people can con- 
jure up were really threatening us. Now, Rosa- 
lind.” 

He stooped down and held out his hand. Putting 
her foot in it she sprang lightly to the horse’s back. 
For a moment she wavered uneasily in her seat ; both 
Mr. Green and the groom put out a hand to steady 
her. Clark, who had returned to his automobile, 
which he had left to look at the horse, started, 
saying, 

“ That girl doesn’t know a thing about riding ! 
See how awkward she is with the reins I There will 
be trouble before she gets back.” 

“ Keep a tight rein on him. Miss,” the groom 
cried in a warning voice as he released the animal’s 
head. 

Rosalind waved her hand. “ Good-by, Louise ; I 
will see you this afternoon.” 

They started northward on Cordova Street. 
Prince John threw up his head and began to prance, 
and just as Mr. Green spoke sharply to him a 
motorcycle came up behind them. Again he threw 
up his head. The next moment he dropped it and 
bolted. The girl was powerless to check him. On a 
mad run he went flying along the street. 

A chorus of wild cries went up from those who had 
watched the start. Mr. Green checked his own horse 
and began to shout orders to which no one listened. 
IMrs. Dalton screamed. As for Louise, in her fright 
she started to run down the street after Prince John. 


THE RIDE ON PRINCE JOHN 


99 


She was stopped by a hand on her arm. It was the 
man who had said his name was Clark. 

“Get into the automobile, quick! We will follow 
them.” 

Louise obeyed. No sound came from her lips, but 
she leaned forward in her seat, straining her eyes for 
a sight of the horse, which had disappeared from 
view. Suddenly some one shouted, 

“ He turned a corner! No, she did not fall off.” 

On they went like the wind. Louise was conscious 
that they had made two turns and were on old St. 
George Street. As the car passed through the City 
Gateway, on to the broader San Marco Avenue, they 
came in sight of the runaway. Rosalind was still 
on his back, crouching forward. Her hat had blown 
off, and her long black hair was down, streaming be- 
hind her like a banner. 

A cry, not loud but freighted with horror, went 
up from those who were watching. Prince John 
stumbled and went down. Fortunately Rosalind was 
thrown so far to one side that she was free of the 
horse, which struggled with a fierce cry of pain, un- 
able to rise. The force of the blow threw the girl 
against one of the tall coquina gateposts that 
guarded the entrance to the extensive grounds sur- 
rounding a fine old house. 


CHAPTER X 


WINTHROP HOUSE 

I T was but a moment before the automobile con- 
taining Louise and the two men reached the gate- 
way. Rosalind lay still. As for the horse, he was 
thrashing about with a broken leg. 

Louise sprang out of the car and bent over her 
friend, crying, “ Rosalind ! O Rosalind ! Is — is 
she dead? ” 

At that moment two young men came running 
down the walk from the house. They were Paul and 
Maurice Winthrop, and in a moment they were bend- 
ing over the two girls. 

“ Miss Morton ! ” Paul cried. “ Why, it is your 
friend, Miss Huff! Let Maurice lift her. We will 
carry her into the house.” 

Even as the young physician knelt down by the 
unconscious girl two more automobiles came dashing 
up, filled with people who had seen the frightened 
horse bolt. Thomas Green stepped from one of them. 
He had discarded his own horse for the car. Push- 
ing his way forward he cried, 

“Is she hurt? What’s that? Prince John 
ruined ! The little fool I To think that I was weak 
enough to let her ride him I Oh, I say, is she dead? 
If not, her beauty is spoiled, and that ends the case 
with me.” 


100 


I 


WINTHROP HOUSE 101 

At the sound of those brutal words scowling faces 
were turned to the man who had uttered them. 
Maurice Winthrop had lifted Rosalind, and the side 
of her face that had struck the gatepost was seen 
by all. Across the cheek was a deep, jagged cut 
from which the blood was dripping. Louise moaned, 
but herself lifted Rosalind’s head to an easier posi- 
tion. 

“ No, she is not dead, not yet,” Maurice Winthrop 
said. “ I think we would better take her to the hos- 
pital, Paul. It will take but a moment in one of 
these cars.” 

“ Take her back to the Alcazar,” some one sug- 
gested. “ Shall they not take her to the hotel, Mr. 
Green.?” 

A volley of oaths broke from Thomas Green’s lips 
as he exclaimed, “ I don’t care where they take her. 
One thing is sure ; whoever takes her to the hospital, 
or to a hotel either for that matter, will have to pay 
her bills. She is penniless, and I am through.” 

Louise turned a white and angry face upon him. 
How dared he speak in that tone of Rosalind.? In 
a moment she heard Paul Winthrop’s voice, saying 
quietly, 

“ Never mind the brute, not now. It is fortunate 
for her that this accident took place in front of our 
house, where we can care for her. I have sent in 
for a couch on which to carry her, and we will do all 
that we can to serve you and Miss Huff.” 

A friend of Green’s had the man by the arm and 
was talking to him. Green’s fierce rage had cooled 


102 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


a little ; he vaguely understood that he had said too 
much. Going forward to w’here Paul stood he said, 
conciliatingly, 

“You’ll take her in, Winthrop.^ I feel that I 
have a right to ask it, because of my claim on the 
place.” 

Paul gave no indication of having heard Green; 
he was helping lift the couch on which Rosalind lay, 
and Maurice was saying to him in a low^ voice, 

“ One leg is broken at the ankle, and there may 
be more serious injuries. I am not sure that she 
will ever regain consciousness.” 

Miss Patty Winthrop had joined the party at the 
gate. She gathered Louise in her arms, crying, “ I 
am so glad you are here with her, my dear! Y"ou 
are both welcome. What is it, Maurice?” 

“ Let some one else take hold of the couch, Paul. 
You go in and telephone to the hospital for Doctor 
Gaylord. He will be there at this time. Tell him to 
bring a nurse — IMiss Grant, if she can be spared. 
You telephone, and then I wish some of you would 
run over there after them with a machine.” 

This last was addressed to the throng which was 
constantly being sw'elled by new arrivals. IMr. 
Clark, the man who had brought Louise, sprang into 
his car, calling, 

“ Some one come with me, to show me where the 
hospital is, and I will be there almost as soon as the 
message is delivered.” 

Paul had already hurried into the house to do his 
cousin’s bidding, and slowly, carefully the couch was 


WINTHROP HOUSE 


103 


carried up the walk, Miss Winthrop hurrying on 
ahead. 

“ Take her up stairs, Maurice,” she said. “ The 
yellow room is in order, and it is light and airy.” 

Louise had lingered in the wide lower hall. She 
saw that Mrs. Dalton had arrived, and she waited 
for her. The widow, after leaving the car, halted 
for a few moments’ conversation with the people at 
the gate, then she came slowly towards the house. 
Louise went forward to meet her. 

“You, Miss Morton! How did you come here.^ 
And where is Rosalind Is she much hurt? ” 

“ They have carried her up stairs. Mrs. Dalton, 
I — I am not sure that she is alive.” 

Myra Dalton dropped into a chair as if too weak 
to stand. One hand clutched Louise’s arm as’ she 
exclaimed, “ But the wedding must go on, it must I 
I’ve staked everything on it. If — if it should not, 
we would be left without a dollar. The little fool! 
If only I had made her obey me ! ” 

“ Maurice says you would better come up. Miss 
Morton,” said IMiss Winthrop, hurrying down the 
stairs. “ He is removing her shoe and thinks the 
pain of the poor crushed foot may restore her to con- 
sciousness, if only for a moment. The injured girl’s 
cousin ? Go right up with Miss Morton, madam. Oh 
here come Doctor Gaylord and the nurse ! ” 

When the two women reached the upper floor the 
long hall M'as empty. A door at the back stood 
open, giving a view of the upper balcony, Mhere ferns 
and palms grew in great pots and where chairs, cush- 


104s 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


ions, a hammock and a table showed that the place 
was much used. A door at one side of the hall stood 
open, and from the room came moans of pain. 

The two ladies entered the room just as the doctor 
and nurse came up stairs. A moment later, with a 
scream, Rosalind opened her eyes. 

“Oh, what is it.? Where am I.'* Oh! Oh!” 

Pushing her way forward Louise bent over the 
bed. “ My poor darling ! The horse threw you, 
Rosalind, but the doctor will soon make you com- 
fortable.” 

“ But I can’t stand the pain ! ” and, struggling up 
on her elbow, Rosalind tried to push Doctor Win- 
throp away. “ O Louise, am I dying.? ” 

“ No, dear, but you must let the doctor see how 
badly your foot is hurt,” and Louise’s tears dropped 
on the other’s pain-distorted face. 

Rosalind put up one hand. “ My face ! Oh, it 
is mangled! I am dying, and I am glad. Louise, 
stay with me until the end ! ” 

“ I will do anything you wish, dear, but you must 
let the doctor — ” 

IMaurice Winthrop gently put Louise aside, saying 
as he bent over Rosalind, “ We are sorry to hurt 
you. Miss Huff, and we will do our best. Trust us. 
And you — you must be brave.” 

His eyes, steady, compelling, held hers, and Rosa- 
lind drew a long breath. 

“ I want to be brave, but I don’t know as I can. 
Yes, I trust you,” and, as Doctor Gaylord lifted the 
crushed foot, she again lapsed into unconsciousness. 


WINTHROP HOUSE 


105 


“ I think you would better leave her with us, Miss 
Morton. The nurse will help us,” Maurice said, 
leading Louise towards the door. 

Mrs. Dalton caught Maurice’s sleeve, whispering 
with agitation, “ That girl is my cousin and ward. 
She is to be married the day after to-morrow, and 
the wedding must take place as planned, must, I say. 
Now I want you to — ” 

With a gentle push Maurice forced her over the 
threshold. The next moment he had closed the door 
in her face. 

“ Well, of all things ! Such insolence ! ” Mrs. 
Dalton exclaimed. Then she turned to Miss Win- 
throp, who was coming to meet her. “ Where is Mr. 
Green.? He should be in command here. And I 
want some one to telephone for a doctor, a good one. 
I don’t know who that presuming young fellow is 
who put me out of the room, but he may as well — ” 

“ He is my nephew. Doctor Maurice Winthrop, 
and this is his home. Everything in this house is 
at the disposal of your niece, but Thomas Green 
is not in command here ! ” and the little spinster’s 
eyes flashed with unwonted fire. 

A little later Miss Winthrop led Louise and Mrs. 
Dalton to one of the two long, high parlors that 
opened from one side of the hall. The room was 
furnished richly and in good taste but in a somewhat 
old-fashioned manner. They had only just sat 
down when Paul entered the room. Before he could 
speak Mrs. Dalton said, 

“ I wish you would summon Mr. Green. I am not 


106 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


convinced of the skill of these country doctors, and 
I am sure Mr. Green will want Rosalind to receive 
every attention.” 

“ Mr. Green has returned to the Alcazar.” Paul 
Winthrop spoke in a cold, even voice, but the gleam 
in his blue eyes made Mrs. Dalton catch her breath. 
“ When he heard that the horse which fell at the 
gate must be shot he went wild with rage. He told 
us he did not care where we took Miss Huff.” 

“ What.^ Why, he couldn’t say that! You must 
have misunderstood him. Will you call up the Al- 
cazar and ask him what New York physician we 
shall summon.? ” 

Paul bowed politely. “ The telephone is in the 
library, just across the hall. Allow me to conduct 
3'OU there, and you can yourself call up Mr. Green.” 

While Mrs. Dalton was talking over the ’phone 
Maurice came down stairs to send to the hospital 
for ether, then went into the back parlor, saying to 
Louise, 

“ Miss Huff is in a bad state. The blow on the 
head may cause serious trouble, and her cheek is 
frightfully torn. We are going to take some 
stitches in it and set the bones in the foot. It is 
a bad break ; at first Gaylord advised amputation, 
but now he thinks, with me, that it may be saved. 
Besides that we fear the effect of the shock; she 
seems in a rundown and weak condition.” 

Louise buried her face in her hands. IMrs. Dal- 
ton, who had returned to the parlor in time to hear 
part of IMaurice’s report, questioned him sharply. 


WINTHROP HOUSE 


107 


refusing to believe that Rosalind was so seriously in- 
jured. The young physician again turned to Louise. 

“ You must be here when she comes out from 
under the influence of the anesthetic. On her re- 
gaining consciousness I will call you. Do not look 
so despairing, Miss Morton. If I did not consider 
Doctor Gaylord and myself competent to handle the 
case I would summon another physician. Trust us 
and pray that God may bless our efforts.” 

After he was gone Mrs. Dalton continued to talk 
loudly, blaming Rosalind, finding fault with every- 
thing and everybody. Little attention was paid to 
what she said. Louise sat still, her eyes staring 
unseeingly out of the window to where great patches 
of shade lay on the velvety turf. Fifteen minutes 
went by, and then she started up, exclaiming, 

“My mother! How could I have forgotten her.? 
If she hears of this she will be wild with fright. If 
she does not she will be unable to understand my 
long absence. I must go to her ; and yet — ” 

“Would it do to telephone.?” Paul asked. “Or 
would that alarm her.? ” 

“ I am afraid it would.” 

IMiss Winthrop leaned over to pat Louise’s arm. 
“ I wonder I did not think of it before. Paul, the 
man who has been so kind with his car is back here, 
waiting to serve us again. He shall take Miss Mor- 
ton to the Magnolia, after her mother. Bring 
things so that you both can stay all night, my dear, 
for you will not want to leave your friend.” 

“ You are too kind. Miss Winthrop. We must 


108 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


not force ourselves upon you when you have already 
opened your house to poor Rosalind.” 

“ Can any one be too kind, my dear.^ And we are 
glad to do these things. Besides it will be a real 
pleasure to have you and your mother here. Am I 
not right, Paul.^ ” 

“ Indeed you are. Aunt Patty. I would take you 
myself. Miss Morton, but I feel I would better be 
here in case Maurice should need me. Mr. Clark 
can go at once.” 

“ And he can take me back to the Alcazar,” Mrs. 
Dalton said, rising to her feet and straightening her 
hat. “ I want to talk with Mr. Green. SomehoAv 
I did not understand him. You don’t suppose it can 
be possible that Rosalind will be disfigured, do you.? ” 

“ If only I knew that she would Ih^e ! ” and Louise 
sighed. “ You will come back with me, Mrs. Dal- 
ton.? ” 

“No. I can do nothing here, and it only makes 
me wretched to stay. If Rosalind had obeyed me, 
as was her duty, this would not have happened. As 
soon as you know anything definite about her con- 
dition telephone me,” and Mrs. Dalton walked out 
to the car whore Mr. Clark sat. She talked all the 
w^ay to the Magnolia, unmindful of the fact that 
Louise said nothing in reply. When Mr. Clark 
helped the girl from the car he said, 

“ I will be back as soon as I leave Mrs. Dalton at 
the Alcazar. But do not hurry ; myself and my car 
are at your disposal for the day.” 

Louise thanked him wdth a look. Entering the 


WINTHROP HOUSE 


109 


house she glanced into the dining-room, to find that 
a few of the boarders were still lingering at the 
lunch-table. Her mother’s place was vacant, so the 
girl ran up stairs, reaching the door of her own 
room without meeting any one. 

Mrs. Morton was seated at a window that over- 
looked the street. She had seen her daughter’s ar- 
rival and, even at that distance, her eyes, sharpened 
by mother love, had seen that something was wrong, 
but she saw too that, whatever it was, her daughter 
was safe. 

Swiftly the girl crossed the room to kneel at her 
mother’s side, and, trembling and half sobbing, told 
the story of the accident. As she came to the de- 
scription of the doctor’s work her voice died away, 
and her mother cried out in alarm: 

“Are you fainting, dear? What shall I do?” 

That cry of consternation steadied Louise. She 
struggled to her feet and crossed the room to where 
on a small table stood a pitcher of water and glasses. 
Her hand shook as she poured the water, but, when 
she had swallowed it, she said, 

“ I am all right now. Mother, and will tell you the 
details.” 


CHAPTER XI 


A TIME OF SUSPEKSE 



S Mrs. Morton listened to her daughter’s story 


ajL a flush of indignation colored her cheeks when 
she heard of Thomas Green’s brutality. When 
Louise explained Miss Winthrop’s desire to have 
them both near Rosalind that day, Mrs. Morton said, 
“ That is very thoughtful of her. Of course we 
will go. Dear, is there something else ? ” 

Again Louise fell upon her knees to bury her face 
in her mother’s lap. “ Mother dear, I feel con- 
demned ! This morning on my way to the Alcazar 
I met Doctor Winthrop and stopped to talk with 
him. We spoke of Rosalind’s marriage, and I said, 
‘ If only she could be saved, saved in any w'ay ! ’ 
IMother, I did not dream of this way.” 

“ My dear, you are unstrung or you would not 
think of attaching any importance to your words in 
connection with this accident,” and ]Mrs. Morton 
smoothed her daughter’s disheveled hair. “ And in- 
deed this may save Rosalind, for there are some fates 
worse than death. God may have let her go on in 
her own wilful way to this end because she would not 
heed his call in any other way.” 

“ But if it should be disfigurement rather than 
death. Mother I ” 

For a moment there was silence. Outside in a 


110 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


111 


china-tree a mocking-bird was singing, flooding the 
air with melody. Mother and daughter clung to- 
gether, dumb and shaken before the impending dan- 
ger of the girl whom they had come to love so well. 

“ God grant it may not be ! ” Mrs. Morton 
breathed. “ It would be worse than death to Rosa- 
lind, our vain, proud-spirited Rosalind! But if it 
comes, if God lets it come, it will be because He sees 
it is the lesson she must have. Louise, if this comes 
— yes, because of what has come — we must prove 
our friendship for Rosalind. If her engagement to 
Mr. Green is broken, and Mrs. Dalton is vexed with 
her, she will need us. Now we must prepare for our 
going as speedily as we can, for I see the car is 
waiting for us.” 

When they arrived at Winthrop House Paul and 
Miss Patty came out to meet them, the latter saying, 

“ It is long past dinner-time, but we waited for 
you. We cling to the habits of our ancestors and 
still dine at one. Now I reckon none of us are 
hungry, but we must eat to keep up our strength 
for the duties of the days to come. Mrs. Morton, 
it is such a comfort for me to have you and your 
daughter, with me now.” 

A little later they sat dowm to dinner, and when 
Maurice came down stairs he told Louise that thus 
far there had been no unfavorable developments in 
Rosalind’s case. She had taken the anesthetic well 
and was gradually coming out from under its in- 
fluence. 

“ It may be a long time before she regains con- 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


m 

sciousness,” he said gravely, “ and not until then 
will we be able to tell if the brain is affected by the 
blow and the shock. If not, I am sure care will 
bring her through, but the injury to the foot and 
the face are both serious ones.” 

Notwithstanding her fear for Rosalind, Louise 
was vaguely aware of the charm of the dining-room 
at Winthrop House. It was furnished in time- 
darkened oak. The table was spread and the side- 
board was adorned with rare old china and massive 
silver that had been in the family for many years. 
The meal was well cooked and well served, for Miss 
Patty was an excellent housekeeper. 

Tlie afternoon wore away slowly. Nothing was 
heard from Mrs. Dalton. Miss Patty asked Mau- 
rice if she should not telephone Rosalind’s cousin, 
but he shook his head most decidedly. 

“ If she wants to know how Miss Huff is let her 
come here and find out for herself. Really, Aunt 
Patty, I believe that woman is heartless. Of course 
we wmuld not expect anything more of Green, but 
how Mrs. Dalton can be so indifferent to the fate of 
a girl whom she has had with her for years is more 
than I can understand.” 

It was arranged that Louise should watch with 
Rosalind the earlier part of the night, enabling the 
nurse to obtain some rest. Doctor Winthrop would 
not retire until the nurse resumed her place at the 
sick-bed. 

“ I wdll take up my station in the library, and a 
single call will summon me,” he said to Louise. 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


113 


Louise Avas sitting on the upper balcony, watch- 
ing the stars and waiting the nurse’s summons to 
Rosalind’s side, when Paul joined her. She knew 
that he had been summoned to the telephone just as 
she started up stairs and she was not greatly sur- 
prised when he said, as he sat down in the hammock, 

“ I have been talking Avith Mrs. Dalton. She had 
the assurance to scold me soundly because she had 
not been told how her cousin was coming on.” 

Louise threw back her head; it irritated her to 
hear Mrs. Dalton’s name mentioned. 

“ Did she manifest any real interest in Rosalind? ” 
she asked. 

“ Well, yes, if you can call it interest ! After all 
that Avas said when she Avas here, she asked me if 
there was no possible way in which the marriage 
ceremony could take place Wednesday as planned. 
Miss Morton, I was brutal enough to tell her I 
thought it more probable that Miss Huff’s funeral 
could take place then.” 

“ Ah, you see it is the fear that if the marriage 
is postponed it will never take place. And it will 
not, for from what your cousin said I am afraid 
the wound on poor Rosalind’s cheek will leave an 
ugly scar, and you heard what Thomas Green said.” 

Paul dreAV a quick breath. “ Your friend might 
better go through life disfigured and crippled than 
as the wife of that man. But, Miss Morton, if your 
fears prove well founded, what will be the result of 
Miss Huff’s learning her condition? She is proud 
and, if you will pardon me for saying it, she must 


114 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


be vain. There must have been a mercenary motive 
for her engagement to Green.” 

“ I know ; and I hardly dare think of Rosalind’s 
coming back to life disfigured and maimed. She is 
vain, but I think that is more a result of training 
than her real nature. Her future is a problem if 
Mrs. Dalton casts her off, for even if she regains 
her health she has not been fitted in any way to take 
a place among the world’s workers. That is one 
reason why mother and I feel so glad that we can 
prove our friendship for her in this time of need.” 

“ Some one has said, ‘ My friend is one who con- 
siders my need before my deserving,’ ” said Paul in 
a voice that w’as not quite steady. “ Because of her 
need, and because we are strong, Maurice and I too 
will do all we can to help her.” 

Just then Maurice joined them, saying that the 
nurse was ready to give Louise her final instruc- 
tions before leaving the sick-room, and she left the 
two young men to take up her watch. 

Louise’s eyes seldom left the head that lay among 
the pillows. Rosalind’s heavy black hair was parted 
and woven into two braids. Her face was bandaged. 
As she lay upon the uninjured side, all that was visi- 
ble was her low forehead, one arched eyebrow, and 
the long jetty lashes. 

“ Can it be that it W'as only this morning that she 
was talking of silks and laces and jewels?” Louise 
asked herself. “ Oh, how little such things matter ! 
May God help us to help her through the sad days 
to come, providing her life is spared ! ” 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


115 


At one o’clock the nurse entered the room, rested 
and refreshed, asked a few questions, and then sent 
Louise to the chamber assigned her, saying, “ Try 
to sleep. Miss Morton ; your strength may be needed 
later when your friend becomes conscious.” 

The morning found Louise quite refreshed, and on 
visiting her mother’s room Mrs. Morton declared 
that she was no worse for the excitement of the day 
before. 

Louise had a walk in the garden before the break- 
fast bell sounded, and they were still at the table 
when the door-bell rang. Nora answered it, and 
]Mrs. Dalton’s high-pitched voice floated in to where 
the Winthrops and their guests sat. 

“ Take my card to your master,” was the caller’s 
haughty command. “ If Miss Morton is here, I 
want to see her also.” 

Nora gave Mrs. Dalton a seat in the back parlor 
and carried her card to the dining-room. Paul 
looked over at Louise. 

“ Shall we receive her together? Maurice, you 
would better come, too.” 

The young physician shook his head. “ I have 
no desire for an interview with Mrs. Dalton. Miss 
Morton understands how Miss Huff is this morning 
and can answer her questions as well as I.” 

“ Perhaps I would better see her while she Is here,” 
Miss Patty said ingratiatingly. “ I know you boys 
are angry at her, but she is that poor girl’s kin, and 
I reckon hospitality will force me to tell Mrs. Dal- 
ton that she is free to stay here with her cousin,” 


116 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ If she comes, Aunt Patty, I shall go to a hotel! ” 
Maurice cried petulantly. “ Somehow I come nearer 
despising that woman than you would have thought 
possible when you were training me in my duty to 
the opposite sex. Paul and Miss Morton will see 
her.” 

When Mrs. Dalton rose, on the entrance of the 
two, Louise saw marks of anxiety and fear on her 
face. Yet they were all for herself, not for that 
slender girl who in an upper room was wandering so 
near the borderline of another world. 

“ Good morning, Mrs. Dalton,” Paul said politely. 

“ How is Rosalind? ” she demanded. “ Miss 
Morton, it seems strange that you did not ’phone 
me, if no one else here would.” 

“ Rosalind is still lying in a stupor. She has not 
spoken or seemed in any way conscious of her sur- 
roundings since you were here yesterday,” Louise 
said, for Paul left the question for her to answer. 

“ Why does not the doctor rouse her? Surely, in 
this day of boasted medical science, it could be done. 
You all know I was not satisfied with the case being 
left in the hands of a young and inexperienced local 
practitioner.” 

Paul’s color rose. “ Mrs. Dalton, my cousin will 
be glad to confer with any physician whom you may 
wish to summon. If you would like to send for your 
family physician from Washington or a famous 
specialist from New York, I can assure you that the 
doctors now in charge of Miss Huff’s case will be 
glad of the opinion of either of these men.” 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


in 


“ I suggested something of the sort to Mr. Green, 
but he — well, he did not approve of it. I’ll go up 
to Rosalind’s room. There has been so much and 
such unwarrantable objection to her marriage that 
I prefer to see for myself that she is unable to go on 
with it.” 

Louise went up stairs with Mrs. Dalton. The 
nurse came forward to meet them, and Louise said, 

“ This is Mrs. Dalton, Miss Huff’s cousin, Miss 
Grant.” 

“ Is it true that you cannot rouse her.^ Have you 
tried Mrs. Dalton demanded. 

“ Indeed we have not, madam,” and the nurse’s 
voice was decided. “ To attempt that would be the 
worst thing we could do. This stupor, which is com- 
ing to be more and more like sleep, is giving the 
patient a chance to recover from the shock. There 
is still a probability of fever and delirium. The 
doctors think that she will become conscious before 
long. Then we fear that she will suffer much pain, 
for the fracture of the ankle was a bad one.” 

At last Mrs. Dalton was convinced that Rosalind’s 
injuries were serious. Her face grew very pale and 
she stood for a little time in silence. When she 
spoke, it was to Louise. 

“ I want to see you alone. I walked out and must 
return at once. Will you walk a little way with 
me.? ” 

Louise consented. On their reaching the lower 
floor she spoke of calling Miss Winthrop, saying 
that she had expressed a wish to see Mrs. Dalton. 


118 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


‘‘ I don’t want to see her. Of course I ought to 
thank her for taking Rosalind in, but I am afraid 
to speak to any of the family, for fear they suggest 
my taking her away. What will they say when they 
learn that there is no money to pay her bills? INIr. 
Green swears he will never look at Rosalind again 
if her face is scarred. Sometimes I think he hopes 
it will be.” 

They had reached the gateway of the grounds, 
and Louise stopped, pointing to a seat. 

“ Let us sit down here, Mrs. Dalton. If what you 
say about Mr. Green is true, he must liave cared 
very little for Rosalind.” 

“ He wanted her for her beauty and piquancy. 
His heart was set on a brilliant young wife, and he 
felt that he had found that in Rosalind. But what 
I want to talk over with you, Miss Morton, is what 
will become of Rosalind, if she lives and the marriage 
is broken off. The money left by her father is gone, 
and I am not able to assume the burden of her sup- 
port. Even if I was, I am not sure that I should 
feel it my duty, for if Rosalind had obeyed me this 
would not have happened. As for the jewels and 
dresses — ” 

“ Do not talk of them now,” Louise said impa- 
tiently, rising. “ Just now, Mrs. Dalton, I am 
praying that Rosalind’s life may be spared. If she 
comes back to us with her beauty marred, we who 
love her must do our best to help her.” 

Louise was about to turn away, but Mrs. Dalton 
said sharply. 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


119 


“ Wait a moment ; I’m not through. As soon as 
there is a change I want you to telephone me at the 
Alcazar. I shall remain there until this matter is 
decided, unless Mr. Green turns against me too. 
If that big-headed doctor gets ready to say whether 
Rosalind’s face will be scarred, let me know at once. 
There is no use of my staying here; I am more com- 
fortable at the hotel.” 

. Louise made no promise. She walked back to the 
house, depressed, afraid. It was in vain that she 
tried to banish her fears and trust that somehow, out 
of the apparent evil that had engulfed pretty, way- 
ward Rosalind, good would come. 

There was no change in the patient until about 
noon. When dinner was announced Maurice sent 
down word that both he and the nurse would re- 
main wuth Rosalind while the others ate. It was 
the nurse who brought down the message, and she 
added : 

“ We think the stupor is passing. Yes, Miss 
IVIorton, I will call you if there is any opportunity 
for you to talk with her.” 

While they were seated at the table Mrs. Morton 
spoke of returning to the Magnolia. Paul and his 
aunt exchanged glances, then he said: 

“ Mrs. Morton, Aunt Patty, Maurice and I dis- 
cussed this situation this morning. None of us are 
willing that, while she needs care and attention, that 
poor girl shall go out from under our roof. Will 
not you and your daughter come here to stay for a 
few weeks until we see what the outcome of Miss 


120 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Huff’s injuries will be? There is plenty of room, 
and we really want you.” 

“ Now do not say no,” Miss Patty urged. “ Miss 
Louise can do much to help the nurse. Indeed her 
being here may save having two. When the dear 
girl comes to know what is going on around her she 
will feel much better to have you both here.” 

Mrs. Morton looked appealingly at Louise. The 
girl compressed her lips. It was not easy for her. 
to speak of Rosalind’s private affairs, but she must 
do it. 

“ I wish you two — yes, and also Doctor Win- 
throp — could know what your kindness means to 
us. Mother and I feel that we cannot let Rosalind 
want, but because you have opened your doors to 
her is no reason why we should add our presence to 
your family circle.” 

A rare smile lighted up Paul Winthrop’s face, as 
he said, “ Miss Morton, do not take to yourself all 
the privilege of doing and giving. I am going to 
speak frankly. We understand that IMiss Huff is 
without means, and we know the doctors fear that 
if her life is spared she may always bear the marks 
of yesterday’s accident. We are not wealthy, but, 
with you here to help with her care, all the expense 
Miss Huff will be to us will be the nurse’s salary.” 

“ But there is the board. Will you let us pay the 
same as we did at the Magnolia? ” 

“ And have you expect five courses for the even- 
ing dinner instead of our old-fashioned hot supper? 
No, we will not, Miss Morton. The farm and the 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


in 


gardens furnish food in abundance. Come and let 
us all work together to build up this young life, for 
I shudder when I think what Miss Huff’s coming 
face to face with her future may mean.” 

The Mortons could not resist that plea; there 
seemed nothing to do but accept gracefully, and the 
matter was settled. 

“How do you really feel Rosalind is.^” asked 
Louise, turning to Maurice a little later when he came 
down stairs. 

“ Miss Huff is better in some ways. She has so 
far regained her consciousness as to be aware of her 
pain. Both Doctor Gaylord and myself feel that 
the face must be dressed again to-day; then we can 
tell more about it. Because I dared not let her 
become excited before the wound was dressed, I ad- 
ministered a hypodermic. We must keep her quiet 
until to-morrow, and then I think the effect of the 
shock will have so far passed that we can talk to 
her. There is one thing I think you should know. 
Miss Morton, and yet it is hard to tell you.” 

Louise paled. “ What is it.'* ” she gasped. 

“ It is Miss Huff’s foot,” and the physician halted, 
as if unable to go on. 

“ Will it have to be amputated.'* ” Louise cried. 

“ No. I never thought that necessary. But the 
break among the small bones was a bad one and the 
ioint will be stiff; I am afraid she will walk with a 
limp.” 

Louise’s head went down on the table. She 
seemed to see Rosalind’s graceful, gliding move- 


122 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


merits. The girl had been as proud of her grace as 
of her beauty, and she was to go along life’s path- 
way limping! Where was silly, vain Rosalind to 
find strength for the journey? 

“ Drink this, Miss Morton,” and Maurice Win- 
throp lifted her head. 

“ I am not going to faint,” she said a little impa- 
tiently. “ If it hurts me like this, what will it be for 
her ? ” 

Just then Doctor Gaylord arrived and the two 
physicians went up stairs. Patty looked over at 
her two guests, exclaiming, 

“ There is no use in our pretending to do any- 
thing but wait for their verdict. Come into the back 
parlor.” 

There was a little talk of the removal of the Mor- 
tons’ trunks from the Magnolia, and Louise said, 
“ When we have heard what the doctors have to tell 
us, I will go over and begin the packing. That will 
enable me to get the mail, and I will tell the land- 
lord that we will give up our rooms at the end of the 
week.” 

“ One of the boys shall take you over in the car,” 
Miss Patty promised. 

“No, please let me walk; the exercise will do me 
good. Miss Winthrop, I cannot talk, not unless 
the doctors have good news for us when they come 
down stairs.” 

In one way the news was good. Rosalind was 
better; both men were confident that the next day 
she would recognize her friends. 


A TIME OF SUSPENSE 


123 


“And the poor, dear face? Did you find it do- 
ing well, Doctor Winthrop?” 

Maurice clenched his hands, but he spoke quietly. 
“ It is a bad cut, Mrs. Morton. We do not look 
for any trouble in its healing, but both Doctor Gay- 
lord and myself feel confident that Miss Huff’s cheek 
will be scarred. It will be more noticeable at first 
however than after a few months. Indeed, at her 
age, there is a reasonable hope that the scar may 
fade away.” 

In spite of the fact that they had in a measure 
anticipated this news it was a shock to them, and 
Mrs. Morton and Louise and Miss Patty all grew 
pale as they listened to Maurice’s words. Finally 
Mrs. Morton exclaimed, 

“ Mrs. Dalton will have to know of this. Will 
3'ou not have to see her and tell her, Louise?” 

“ I cannot talk to her now,” and Louise shuddered. 
“ She must know, though, and it is not something 
that can be told over the telephone. While I am at 
the Magnolia, Mother, I will write her a note.” 

Louise made her way into town and to the Mag- 
nolia and acquainted the landlord and the Millers 
with their change of plans, but she found herself in 
no mood for packing. It was hard for her to write 
the note to Mrs. Dalton, too, but she compelled her- 
self to do it. She wrote briefly, saying that Rosa- 
lind’s general condition was better, but that the doc- 
tors said they feared her face would be scarred and 
that the injury to her ankle would make her lame, 
and took the note to the office. 


CHAPTER XII 


A WOMAN S CRUELTY 


N her return to Winthrop House Louise found 



that there had been no change in the sick-room. 
Rosalind still lay in a stupor that was the effect 
of a narcotic, but her breathing and her pulse were 
regular. She swallowed the medicine put into her 
mouth and the few spoonfuls of milk that the nurse 
gave her. 

“ I will stay with her, as I did last night, so that 
you can rest,” Louise promised. 

There had been many callers that afternoon. 
]\Irs. Morton had taken refuge in her own room. 
Miss Winthrop appeared at the supper table, fresh 
and unruffled. 

“ A few who came were our friends, eager to help 
us in any way they could,” she explained as she filled 
a delicate, egg-shell cup with fragrant tea for Mrs. 
Morton. “ Such people you can depend on. But 
there were a dozen who came just out of curiosity. 
They w’anted to learn what they could about that 
poor girl up stairs, and also about you two,” smil- 
ing over at her guests. 

“ Well, Aunt Patty,” Paul said, “ unless you have 
changed since the days of old, those who came 
prompted by curiosity did not learn much.” 

“ Well, I’ve not changed. Marie Seldon actually 


A WOMAN’S CRUELTY 


125 


asked if she could go up stairs and look at Miss Huff. 
I told her no sick person had ever been made a 
spectacle at Winthrop House, and there would be 
no change to-day. Do have another one of Sue’s 
biscuits, Miss Louise. Florida air does not give you 
an appetite.” 

“ It did before this trouble came,” and Louise 
tried to smile. 

The evening air was chill and raw. Paul pre- 
dicted a storm and himself built a roaring fire on 
the hearth of the back parlor where the ladies sat. 
Then he asked Louise if she had ever seen the li- 
brary. 

“ I am using it for a workshop, and that makes 
people think they have no right to enter it, but do 
not get that idea. Miss Morton. Help yourself to 
whatever you care for in the reading line.” 

He led the w’ay across the hall to the library. 
The big room was well lighted. All the wall space, 
save that occupied by doors, windows, and a fire- 
place, was filled with bookcases. A big, roll-top 
desk, more modern than the rest of the furniture, 
stood near a window. There were comfortable 
chairs, and at each end of the fireplace, a cushioned 
seat. Over the mantel hung a portrait of Paul’s 
grandfather painted by a well-known artist. 

“ What a dear, homelike room ! ” Louise exclaimed. 
“ It must be a joy to spend the long winter evenings 
here! Ah, I forgot! You have no winter even- 
ings.” 

“ No, but this is a cozy retreat when the rain 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


im 

taps against the windows. I believe it was Charles 
Kingsley who said, ‘ Except a man, there is nothing 
more wonderful than a book.’ One is willing to take 
the second-class company because he can have in 
a single room a thousand of them waiting his 
pleasure.” 

The cases were well filled in more than one sense 
of the >vord. As Louise’s eyes ran from one to 
another, she greeted old acquaintances and com- 
mented on books which she had read or had heard 
discussed. 

“ What a pleasure such a library must be, Mr. 
Winthrop ! The pleasure of collecting must be as 
keen as that of possession.” 

“ I agree with you, with certain reservations. 
During my father’s life we bought books freely. 
Since his death there have been some business com- 
plications that have obliged me to restrict my ex- 
penditures. I find it easier to economize on most 
other things than books.” 

“ Here are Latin and Greek,” Louise said a little 
hurriedly, for she did not want Paul to think her 
curious regarding his financial troubles. “ Why, 
how many books there are in Spanish ! ” 

“ You know that was the language of St. Augus- 
tine in its early days. That made Spanish litera- 
ture of special importance to my father. I think 
I told you he had a somewhat remarkable collection 
of books on Florida, as w^ell as many manuscripts, 
but these are only a few of them. The last few 
months of my father’s life he W'as confined to his 


A WOMAN’S CRUELTY 


m 

room on the second floor much of the time, and we 
moved many of the books up there, as he \vas still 
interested in the subject. They have not been re- 
turned to the library. For one thing, I have liked to 
leave his room just as it was when he was here. Then 
the cases are full, and it will require some shifting 
and planning to make room for those volumes. 
Some day I will take you up to father’s room. 
There is a fine portrait of my mother there that I 
want you to see.” 

The conversation ran on easily. It pleased Paul 
to see the tense lines that the past two days had writ- 
ten on Louise’s face relax. When she turned to 
leave the room he said, 

“ As soon as Miss Hulf is on the road to recovery 
Maurice and I are going to remind you that you 
promised us some music. Use the piano at your 
pleasure. I think you will find it an excellent one ; 
my mother was an accomplished musician.” 

On going up to take the nurse’s place Louise found 
Rosalind still sleeping. The sleep continued, wdth 
only an occasional cry of pain or a restless move- 
ment, all the time that she remained in the room. 
Louise read a little by the shaded electric lamp. In 
one way she was more at ease regarding Rosalind; 
her fear of the girl’s death had passed ; but she knew 
that when Rosalind woke to a knowledge of what was 
going on around her, when she learned what the re- 
sults of her mad ride had been, there would be a 
time of wild despair and heart-rending sorrow'. 
Would that time come to-morrow .J* 


128 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


At one o’clock the nurse resumed her place at Rosa- 
lind’s side, and Louise went to her own room. 

She had just finished dressing the next morning 
when a rap sounded on her door, and the voice of the 
nurse said, 

“Will you come to Miss Huff at once? She is 
awake and has asked for you. She has been in a 
half-doze for an hour. A little while ago she asked 
where ‘ Cousin Myra ’ was. I told her that it was 
still earl}’^, and the family were in bed. She waited 
ten minutes, then asked, ‘Is Louise here? I seem 
to remember her.’ Do not let her get excited if it 
can be helped. Miss Morton.” 

Rosalind smiled up into her friend’s face, as she 
approached the bed. 

“ I felt sure you were near me, Louise. I can’t 
remember. Have I been sick? ” 

“ Yes, dear, but you are better. Please don’t 
ask any questions or try to talk. You trust me, do 
you not, Rosalind, when I tell you that everything 
is all right? ” 

“ Yes, and I am so tired.” 

She closed her eyes, retaining her hold on Louise’s 
hand. The nurse brought a cup of broth and fed it 
to her. Suddenly she asked: 

“What day is it, Louise? It just seems as if 
there was something I w'as going to do. And my 
face feels so queer I ” 

Louise caught Rosalind’s hand as she raised it, so 
preventing the girl’s fingers from coming in contact 
with her face. “ There is nothing you ought 'to do, 


A WOMAN’S CRUELTY 


129 


dear, save go to sleep again. And it looks as if it 
might be a rainy day.” 

Again Rosalind smiled. A few moments later 
her fingers relaxed their hold on Louise’s hand, and 
her regular breathing showed that she slept. The 
nurse drew a quick breath. 

“ I am so glad you could quiet her, Miss Morton ! 
Of course she will have to know, and doubtless the 
knowledge must come to-day, but every hour we can 
wait gives her more strength. I think. Miss Morton, 
you must tell her.” 

Louise shivered. “ Will I have the strength for 
that.'^ ” 

“ You must have. She will bear it better from 
you than from any of us, for we are strangers. 
Doctor Gaylord said a shock, even now, might prove 
fatal.” 

Both Mrs. Morton and Miss Winthrop looked into 
the room a little later that morning to inquire about 
the sick girl, and Louise went down stairs with her 
mother. In the lower hall they found Paul, who had 
just come in from the garden, his hands filled with 
sweet-scented violets. 

While the family was at breakfast Mrs. Dalton 
came slowly up from the street to the house. Paul 
had left the front door ajar, and Mrs. Dalton did not 
ring the bell, but walked into the hall and up the 
stairs. She moved noiselessly and entered the sick- 
room without having been seen by any one. Miss 
Grant greeted her pleasantly but in a low voice. 

“ I did not know you were here, Mrs. Dalton. 


130 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Yes, I think Miss Huff is better,” and she went on 
to tell of Rosalind’s waking and going back to sleep. 

Miss Grant had not been told the entire story of 
Rosalind’s contemplated marriage, and she did not 
understand that there was anything unpleasant in 
the relation existing between the guardian and her 
cousin, so she said, 

“ I am going to leave you with her for a few 
minutes, Mrs. Dalton. Doctor Gaylord is coming 
over from the hospital this morning, and I want to 
telephone him to bring me some temperature charts.” 

“ Very well. You need not hurry back, for I can 
stay some time,” Mrs. Dalton said. 

As the nurse went out, Mrs. Dalton advanced to 
the side of the bed and unintentionally hit the foot- 
board with a chair she pushed aside. The jar, 
slight as it was, moved Rosalind’s injured foot. A 
cry of pain broke from her lips, and she opened her 
eyes, staring up into Mrs. Dalton’s face. 

“ O Cousin Myra 1 It hurts me so 1 What ails 
my foot. I — What is the matter.?” 

“ Don’t you remember that the horse you would 
ride, in spite of all I could say, threw you.? You 
were terribly injured.” 

Rosalind tried to struggle up on her elbow, but 
fell back, moaning with pain. 

“ But where am I .? I can’t remember.” 

“ The horse threw you in front of a house, and 
you were carried in there. That was the day before 
yesterday. This was to have been your wedding 
day.” 


A WOMAN’S CRUELTY 


131 


“ Oh, I had forgotten ! I — I don’t believe I can 
get up. What will Mr. Green say? What ails my 
foot? And there is something wrong with my face.” 

“ I will tell you what Mr. Green says,” and a 
malignant gleam came into Myra Dalton’s eyes: 
“ He told me to tell you that he would never marry 
any woman whose face was scarred and who limped. 
It was for your beauty that he wanted you, and that 
is gone. So you see what your obstinacy has cost 
you — yes, and me, too. I don’t know what will 
become of us, Rosalind. You haven’t a dollar, and 
if you are lame all your life you will be helpless. 
Mr. Green has ordered all your finery sent back to 
New York. Why, Rosalind, don’t look like that!” 

“ How dare Thomas Green send me such a mes- 
sage as that? What do you mean, Myra? Tell 
me the truth. Am I disfigured and crippled? ” 

“ Of course you are I Surely you know — ” 

She was interrupted by a scream from Rosalind, a 
scream that rang through the house, startling the 
party at the breakfast table, and frightening Sue 
so that she dropped the plate of hot muffins in her 
hand. It was followed by another and still another. 
The nurse, who had just left the telephone, went 
flying up stairs, calling: 

“ Doctor Winthrop I Doctor Winthrop, come at 
once ! ” 

Louise reached the sick-room before even the doc- 
tor. The nurse had both arms around Rosalind 
and was begging her to lie down. 

“ I am going to get up ! I am going to get up 




PAYING THE PRICE! 


and find something with which I can kill mjself I ” 
Rosalind cried. “ Cousin Myra says I will be 
scarred and crippled all my life. I’ll not live! I 
cannot! O Louise, is it true.? ” 

Maurice Winthrop turned to where, near a win- 
dow, Mrs. Dalton stood. Her face was pale, and, 
notwithstanding her efforts at self-control, she trem- 
bled. 

“You told her.'* I did not know a woman could 
be so cruel. And it may cost her her life.” 

“ Why, I thought she knew,” Mrs. Dalton stam- 
mered. 

“ Louise, I’ll not live, to have people point at me 
and jeer at me! And she said that he — that man 
Green with the cold eyes and the sneering mouth — 
he said he would not marry me, because my beauty 
was gone. If I was a man I’d kill him for saying 
such a thing. Scarred! Crippled! I’ll not bear 
it! If there is a God, He must pity me and let me 
die.” 

It was in vain that they tried to quiet her. The 
doctor, the nurse, Mrs. Morton, Louise — from each 
and all of them she turned away, entreating for 
death to end her pain and shame. At last Maurice 
said to Miss Grant, 

“ It is risky to give her another hypodermic so 
soon, but there is no other way. She will go into 
convulsions if she is not quieted.” 

The dose given before proved ineffectual, and not 
until it was doubled did the cries cease. At last 
Rosalind lay still, her breath coming in labored 


A WOMAN’S CRUELTY 


133 


gasps, a curious blue tinge coloring her face. Louise 
covered her own face with her hands, sobs shaking 
her form. 

Then Doctor Winthrop turned to the nurse with 
a frown and said coldly, 

“ We will go to the bottom of this affair. Miss 
Grant, I saw you running up the stairs as I reached 
the hall. How did Mrs. Dalton come to be here, and 
what induced you to leave your patient with her? ” 

Th.e girl’s color rose, but her eyes met his steadily. 

“ I may have made a mistake. Doctor Winthrop, 
but I did not know I was doing anything of which 
3mu would disapprove. I do not know who admitted 
Mrs. Dalton. She came in here, and I left her with 
JMiss Huff while I went down stairs to telephone to 
the hospital. Miss Huff was sleeping, and I never 
dreamed that her — ” 

The nurse stopped short. Maurice Winthrop 
turned to Mrs. Dalton. 

“ Now, madam, we will hear your stor^-.” 

“ I’ll have you understand that I am not under 
orders,” she snapped. “ I have a right to see Rosa- 
lind when I please. Of course I did not mean to 
waken her, but I hit against the bed and she started 
up crying out that her foot hurt her. At first she 
wouldn’t remember. I told her about the horse and 
that this was to have been her wedding day. She 
asked me what Mr. Green would say, and I told her.” 

She ceased speaking and moistened her lips with 
her tongue, and tried in vain to meet IMaurice’s stern 
look. His voice was cold as he asked, 


134 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ What did you tell her, Mrs. Dalton? ” 

“ Just what Mr. Green said, in fact what he asked 
me to tell her : that he would not marry a woman who 
was scarred and crippled. I supposed you had told 
Rosalind of her condition. It was your place to do 
so as soon as she became conscious.” 

“We expected to have to tell her some time to- 
day, and expected to do it gently, tenderly, but you 
have undone all our work ! ” 

“ How dare you? ” Mrs. Dalton cried. “ I’ll go 
away at once.” 

“ No, for I have something more to say to you. 
But this room must be quiet. Aunt Patty, please 
take ]Mrs. Dalton to the back parlor. You go, too, 
^Irs. Morton. I will join you in a few minutes.” 

When Doctor Winthrop entered the room where 
the others sat Louise was with him. Without a mo- 
ment’s hesitation he began, 

“ Mrs. Dalton, we have assumed the care of Miss 
Huff, freeing both you and Mr. Green from any 
responsibility for her. Will you pack and send here 
whatever there is at the hotel that is her own? Do 
not send one single article that Thomas Green’s 
money bought.” 

“ But Rosalind has no money. Where will you 
get your pay for taking care of her? ” 

“ Unfortunately, Mrs. Dalton, you seem not to 
have learned that the thing that makes men and 
women rich, in the best sense of the word, is not the 
possession of money,” and there was plainly a sneer 
in Maurice Winthrop’s voice. “ I presume you are 


A WOMAN’S CRUELTY 


135 


about to leave St. Augustine and we need have no 
further intercourse. I certainly do not wish you to 
see our patient again.” 

“ I should think you would be ashamed to talk to 
me in that way,” she cried. “ Mr. Green goes to 
Palm Beach to-morrow, and I am going to stay here 
until he comes back. By that time he will be more 
reasonable and will see that I should not be punished 
for Rosalind’s wrong-doing. He promised to see that 
I was well provided for if I would get Rosalind to 
marry him. I did my part, and I mean to see that 
he plays fair. I didn’t intend to hurt Rosalind this 
morning, but the girl has ruined her own life, and 
I don’t know but mine too. When she comes to, tell 
her that I can’t take her in, so there is no use of her 
trying to make up with me.” 

Mrs. Dalton walked haughtily out of the room. 
It was Mrs. Morton’s voice that broke the silence 
following her going, and Louise was surprised to see 
the stern, accusing look upon her mother’s serene 
face. 

“ May God forgive her ! Poor Rosalind ! She 
will be embittered and dependent, but, even so, she 
will be better off than if she had given herself to that 
man in exchange for luxury. It is to be our priv- 
ilege to help the dear child take up her life, marred 
and broken as it seems, and live it as God means her 
to do.” 


CHAPTER XIII 


ANXIOUS DAYS 

T he conference in the back parlor was broken 
up by the arrival of Doctor Gaylord, and * 
when Maurice told his colleague of Mrs. Dalton’s 
visit to the sick-room and its effect upon Rosalind, 
the older physician’s face darkened. 

“ I’m afraid for the little girl, Winthrop. This 
will doubtless result in the fever we feared from the 
first, and she is too exhausted for that.” 

IMaurice Winthrop compressed his lips. “ She 
shall not die. Doctor Gaylord. I cannot tell you, 
for I do not understand it myself, why I feel so 
deeply concerning this case, but I swear I’ll save this 
girl if it is in the power of man to do it.” 

Doctor Gaylord sighed. “ I’ll do all I can to help 
you, my boy, but it’s going to be a hard fight. You 
see she is not going to want to live, and that is a 
difficult thing to meet.” 

When Rosalind came out from under the influence 
of the drug that had been administered she was de- 
lirious and for nine days the fever raged. Much of 
the time she was delirious. For hours she would lie 
still, her great black eyes staring straight before 
her. Occasionally she would whisper to herself, and 
her hands were seldom still. Late every afternoon 
the fever was at its highest. Then she talked, but 
136 


ANXIOUS DAYS 


137 


it was rarely that she mentioned St. Augustine or 
anything connected with her stay there. Usually 
she was back in the past, and often the eyes of those 
who cared for the invalid were filled with tears when 
she told of Mrs. Dalton’s coldness and of her own 
longing for love. Gradually they came to see that 
the girl’s ideas of life had been cheapened by the 
training she had received. In that little Washing- 
ton home there had been a great effort to dress well 
and to force a way into a social circle a little above 
the one then occupied, and Rosalind had learned to 
look upon her beauty, her grace, and the accomplish- 
ments that she had acquired as means to this end. 

All of her delirious fancies were not so tame. She 
suffered agonies of fear, begging Louise and the nurse 
to save her from threatened dangers, dangers of fire, 
of flood, and tempest. Over and over she would say ; 

“ I’m so afraid ! And it wouldn’t be quite so bad 
if I knew what it was that I’m afraid of. But it’s 
coming, it’s almost here, and it’s going to crush out 
my heart and life.” 

There was only one person who could rout the 
spirit of fear, and that was Doctor Winthrop. 
When Rosalind’s delirium rose she would call for him, 
always speaking of him as “ the strong man.” 

“ He will not let that awful thing hurt me,” she 
would cry. “ I don’t know why, but when the strong 
man is here I am safe.” 

After the delirium passed there were hours of 
stupor w’hen the patient slept fitfully or lay with 
closed eyes, unconscious of what went on in the 


138 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


room, and so the days passed slowly. Rosalind 
seemed to be conscious of Louise’s presence and to be 
happier when she was near, and in her more lucid 
intervals she asked her to play for her, so that the 
piano was opened and Louise’s voice often floated 
up to the sick-room in soothing songs. 

In the meantime it was not easy for the Mortons 
to realize that Christmas was at hand. That was a 
winter when Florida was at her fairest; there had 
been a few cool, raw days but no frosts. There were 
bare branches in the grounds at Winthrop House, 
for the deciduous trees had cast their leaves, but the 
live-oaks, hollies, magnolias, the orange and grape- 
fruit trees, and the two stately palmettos that grew 
in the side-yard afforded countless shades of green. 
Besides the offerings of the little conservatory, there 
were always flowers opening in the garden. 

All the inmates of Winthrop House insisted upon 
Louise spending a part of each day in the open air, 
and she rambled through the little town and over the 
adjacent country, sometimes in the company of Paul 
or of the Millers and again alone. The beach never 
lost its charm for her; she tramped miles up and 
down at the water’s edge. Paul took her for long 
sails, and one or the other of the cousins was always 
ready to take her and her mother out in the car. 

There was one unadulterated joy for Louise — 
her mother w’as making a marked improvement. 
Mrs. Morton spent hours on the front porch and 


ANXIOUS DAYS 


139 


on the upper balcony or with Miss Patty in the gar- 
dens, pulling a few weeds, comparing the size of the 
fruit and vegetables with that of a week before, and 
learning the history of the rare plants and shrubs. 
Every day Louise went with her mother for a walk. 
At first they were short, but gradually they were 
being lengthened. 

The Northern girl never tired of watching the sky 
and the water. From the upper balcony there was a 
fine view of the bay and the island that shut it in, 
and they could sit on the balcony in the evening and 
watch the flashing gleam of the lighthouse. 

In those days all at Winthrop House knew that 
they were being freely discussed by the townspeople 
and the tourists. There was much talk of Rosalind, 
and many questions as to why, if she was not con- 
nected with the Winthrops, the doors of the old 
house had opened to admit the beautiful girl who, 
because of her own headstrong folly, was even then 
fighting for her life, deserted hy the man whose bride 
she was to have been and by her only relative in that 
region ? 

“ But it is just like the Winthrops,” some said. 
“ They would give all their possessions and them- 
selves in service to any one in need.” 

Thomas Green had gone to Palm Beach on the 
evening of what was to have been his wedding day. 
There were many rumors concerning him. Some 
said he had gone on to Cuba, while others declared 
that he had returned to New York. However his 


140 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


rooms at the Alcazar were reserved for him, and it 
was generally believed that he would soon return to 
St. Augustine. 

Mrs. Dalton had gone to a boarding-house. She 
had had the good sense to say openly that she could 
not afford to stay at the Alcazar. Mrs. Dalton 
talked confidently of Green’s movements, assuming 
that she was in constant communication with him. 
With a certain class of tourists — those eager for 
any connection with the wealthy — that gave her 
something of prestige. She dressed beautifully, for 
she had managed to obtain a fine wardrobe at Green’s 
expense, and appeared at every social function to 
which she could possibly gain admittance. 

A trunk packed with the clothes Rosalind had 
possessed at the time she promised to marry Green 
arrived at Winthrop House. There were several 
pieces of jewelry that had been the girl’s mother’s. 
In the tray of the trunk there was a purse contain- 
ing eight dollars — all Rosalind’s fortune. 

For several days after her disastrous visit to Rosa- 
lind’s room Mrs. Dalton did not venture to go to 
Winthrop House. She telephoned daily, always ask- 
ing for Louise and talking with her. Then one day 
she called at the door to make her Inquiries concern- 
ing Rosalind. The next day she entered the house 
and asked to see her cousin. It chanced that Maurice 
was in the library, and Miss Winthrop went to him 
with the request. 

]Mrs. Dalton’s face hardened when Maurice Win- 
throp entered the room where she sat, but before she 


ANXIOUS DAYS 


141 


could speak, he greeted her, adding, “ Mj aunt tells 
me that you have asked to see Miss Huff. Remem- 
bering the result of your last visit to her, I cannot 
grant you permission to enter her room. I think 
that was understood at the time.” 

“ It seems to me, Doctor Winthrop, that you are 
exceeding your authority in this case,” Myra Dal- 
ton retorted hotly. “ You may be Rosalind’s physi- 
cian, but I chance to be, not only her kinswoman 
but also her guardian. You cannot deny me admit- 
tance to her.” 

A steely gleam came into the man’s blue eyes. “ I 
can and shall. You may have been Miss Huff’s 
guardian, but when she was unconscious, and it 
seemed probable dying, you left her to be cared for 
by the charity of strangers. You cannot see Miss 
Huff.” 

“ Cannot, Doctor Winthrop.^ An appeal to the 
law — ” 

“ Would result in strengthening the disapproval 
with which the people of St. Augustine regard your 
connection with this affair. All that has been done 
at Winthrop House for Miss Huff has been done 
freely, gladly. However, should you attempt to get 
control of her, you will first have to pay in full the 
bills for your ward’s care.” 

Myra Dalton tried to look injured. “You know 
I can’t do that. I don’t want to take her away. 
But every one wonders that I know so little about 
her. And Mr. Green wrote me to know just how she 


142 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Mrs. Dalton, I’m surprised that you should 
speak that man’s name, especially in connection with 
iNIiss Huff I ” Maurice exclaimed, and again the 
woman quailed before his gaze. “ Miss Huff is de- 
lirious, and I presume she would not recognize you. 
The shock you gave her on the occasion of your 
former visit resulted in a fever that is sapping her 
small stock of strength. For a time Doctor Gay- 
lord, my colleague, despaired of her life. However 
yesterday and to-day she has shown a slight improve- 
ment, and I think the fever has nearly run its course. 
When it leaves her she will be very weak. We hope 
to bring her back to a reasonable state of health 
and — God helping us I — to a willingness to live and 
a contentment with her lot, but your presence in our 
patient’s room would make our task an impossible 
one. You cannot see your cousin while she remains 
here unless she expresses a wish to see you.” 

Maurice left the room. Mrs. Dalton burst into 
indignant criticism of him, until IMiss Winthrop, who 
had always seemed so gentle and yielding, announced 
with dignity, 

“ I cannot listen to any such unkind and — par- 
don me — unjust things said about Doctor Win- 
throp. You can rest assured that everything pos- 
sible will be done for the comfort and well-being of 
your ward ; and now I must wish you good morning, 
as I have not yet discussed the meals of the day with 
my cook,” and before Mrs. Dalton could recover 
from her astonishment, she found herself politely 
bowed out of the hall door. 


ANXIOUS DAYS 


14S 


Mrs. Morton and her daughter both expressed 
their regret that the presence of Rosalind would en- 
force a quiet Christmas upon Winthrop House, but 
all the family urged the ladies not to give that phase 
of the matter another thought. 

“ Since my brother’s death Paul has been away so 
much that we have ceased to take any prominent 
part in the town’s social life. When I have both my 
boys with me I am contented. To have you two here 
on the sacred day will be a great pleasure. We will 
serve our usual Christmas dinner and give our usual 
gifts.” 

On the morning of the day before Christmas both 
the physicians pronounced Rosalind better. Her 
fever had gradually declined, and Maurice said, when 
he joined the family in the back parlor, after Doctor 
Gaylord’s visit, 

“ We think the fever will not rise again after to- 
night. Then, when she realizes her physical state, 
will come the real tug of war.” 

“ How are we going to quiet her and give her faith 
in God’s love and in his willingness to help her make 
of her life something that will lift the world a little 
nearer heaven.?” Miss Winthrop asked in a trem- 
bling voice. 

Maurice shook his head. “ All we can do. Aunt 
Patty, is to meet the difficulties as they come. One 
thing is sure — we must win ! Miss Morton, I am 
going to suggest that you spend much time out of 
doors to-day. You see at any time after to-morrow 
Miss Huff may begin to ask intelligent questions 


144 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


about herself. When that time comes I want jmu to 
be within call, for I know she will cling to you.” 

Louise sliivered, but Paul looked over at her with 
a smile. 

“ Let me take you to North Beach this afternoon, 
Miss Morton. I had planned to ask the favor to- 
morrow, but you may not be able to go then. We 
will take the boat over to the island and cross to the 
beach in that funny little horse-car that affords the 
tourists so much amusement.” 

“ Now that will be the very thing,” Maurice said 
80 genially that Louise smiled her assent to the plan 
made for her. 


CHAPTER XIV 


AN AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH 

L ouise and Paul planned to take the first boat 
after luncheon for the beach. It was a wann, 
sunny day, so warm that when Louise came down 
stairs she carried her jacket on her arm. 

“ Stay all the afternoon,” Miss Winthrop said. 
“ Mrs. Morton and I are going to call on a friend 
of mine who lives in one of the curious old coquina 
houses south of the business portion of the town.” 

The two young people walked briskly through the 
little city to the wharf where the boat lay. There 
were a dozen passengers waiting to cross the bay. 

“ You have not yet seen the tourist at his great- 
est,” Paul said laughingly. “ After holidays the 
number here increases rapidly. February and 
March bring great crowds, as nearly all of those 
M’ho winter in southern Florida plan to spend a few 
weeks here on their way northward.” 

The ride across Matanzas Bay took but a short 
time, and they left the boat at a rickety little wharf. 
Much of Anastasis Island is a waste of white sand 
overgrown with a tangle of dwarf palmettos, Span- 
ish bayonets, and dwarfed cedars. To cross this at 
North Beach the visitors to the island entered a long 
car, the seats extending the length of the vehicle. 
145 


146 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


The motor power of the conveyance was a single 
horse, and he was hitched at one side of the car. 

“ It’s on the plan of a canal boat,” Louise heard 
some one say as she took her place. 

North Beach proved to be a beautiful stretch of 
water line. There was no wind; the ocean was a 
gently undulating expanse of sapphire-tinted water, 
and the long waves came rolling slowly in, with a 
musical wash, to break on the pebbly beach. 

Not far from the place where the car stopped was 
a rude elevated seat provided with a roof. Paul 
and Louise ascended to it, for the slight elevation 
gave them a view off across the water. 

“Would you like to sit here for a time?” Paul 
asked. 

The girl shook her head. “ I’m longing for a 
tramp along the beach. It always gives me a sense 
of freedom to pace along the shores, with the waves 
bringing me their message from across the expanse 
of water.” 

As they walked on, Louise took off her hat. Her 
head gleamed in the sunlight, and the faint rose color 
on her cheeks deepened in tint. 

“ How you must love it, Mr. Winthrop ! All 
your life you have lived where, in a short time, you 
could reach this beautiful beach.” 

“ Yes, and to me, as Bryant says of nature, it 
‘ speaks a various language.’ I was an Imaginative 
boy, and even then I used to find in the sea some- 
thing attuned to every mood. I wish you could see 
this stretch of beach in a storm.” 


AN AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH 147 


“ Perhaps some day when it storms I can come 
over here,” Louise said eagerly. “ Our Northern 
winters have accustomed me to storm and cold. 
The ocean may be grand in time of storm, but to- 
day it is beautiful, beautiful,” and the girl’s musical 
voice pulsated with delight. 

After a time they sat down on a bit of wreckage, 
an old timber that had w'ashed up on the shore. Paul 
had vowed to himself that for one afternoon at least 
Louise should forget the sick-room where she spent 
so many hours, yet they soon drifted into a discus- 
sion of Mrs. Dalton’s call at Winthrop House. 

“ Why would Mr. Green write to Mrs. Dalton, in- 
quiring about Rosalind ? ” Louise asked. “ He does 
not care wdiat becomes of her.” 

“ It is not easy to determine what Thomas Green 
has in mind; he is a consummate villain,” and Paul’s 
face grew stern. “ Miss Morton, may I tell you of 
that man’s attempt to rob me, for it is nothing else? 
I do not often intrude my private affairs upon my 
friends, but in this case I feel that you and your 
mother have a right to know why all we Winthrops 
look upon him with such distrust.” 

“ I shall be glad to listen to your story, if you 
care to tell it to me. Perhaps it is only fair for me 
to say that Green once told Rosalind that he had a 
claim upon a fine old house here in St. Augustine, a 
house owned by a family of your name. At the time 
I thought it could not be your home.” 

“ Green meant Winthrop House, but he has no 
claim upon it, although he is trying to steal it from 


148 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


me. Just why he wants the old place is another 
thing that it is not easy to understand. Perhaps it 
is because he hopes to get it for nothing. In some 
ways the man is liberal with his money, yet he is 
ever grasping at any opportunity to get money, get 
it in any way, for honesty means nothing to him.” 

Louise saw that her companion was unusually ex- 
cited, and she waited in silence for him to go on, 

“ It was when I was at college that Thomas Green 
began to come to Winthrop House,” Paul said 
finally. “ He had already spent several winters in 
this vicinity. All the business men of the town 
looked upon him as a speculator, although he was 
considered an upright man. I do not know what 
arguments he used to induce my father to go into 
business with him. For years father had led a quiet 
life, giving his time to his books, his gardens, and 
the oversight of his business affairs. He was not 
rich, but there was plenty to keep Winthrop House 
up in good shape and for my education. The prop- 
erty was principally in Florida real estate — con- 
siderable farm property and business blocks here and 
in Jacksonville. One year when I came home for 
the Christmas vacation father told me that he and 
Green had purchased a big tract of land not far 
from the Everglades. Green declared in two years’ 
time they could sell it for double what they paid. 
They did not pay the money for the land, but each 
secured his share of the debt on his personal prop- 
erty. 

“ I never heard anything more about the affair 


AN AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH 149 


until two years ago when I was summoned home by 
my father’s illness. Soon after my arrival, on one 
of the days when he was well enough to come down 
stairs, he went into the details of the business. 
Father had become convinced that Green was not an 
honest man. A little investigation had proved that 
the land purchased was w'orthless. Father insisted 
upon its being sold, of course at a loss. When the 
transaction was completed, he found that he had lost 
thirty thousand dollars. 

“ Now of course Green had cheated him out of 
that, but father had trusted him so implicitly, and 
the whole affair had been so carelessly conducted, 
that no course was open to father but to pay the 
money unless he went to law. I did not approve of 
that because I saw that my father’s health was too 
precarious to risk the excitement. 

“ I had an interview wdth Green and gave myself 
the pleasure of telling the man what I thought of 
him. Then I set about helping father raise the 
money to discharge the debt. The dear old man 
was weak and a little childish. Instead of turning 
over some of the property he possessed to Green, 
he insisted on the property being sold and his plac- 
ing the money in the other’s hands. Father had 
several thousand dollars in the bank. We sold a 
farm and some Jacksonville property, and when the 
money was collected we sent word to Green, and he 
agreed to come to Winthrop House on a certain day. 

“ That day it was necessary for me to go away 
on some business concerning a farm which father 


150 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


owned, but I drew the money from the bank before 
I went and gave it into my father’s hands. When 
I returned at night he reported that Green had not 
yet received from his lawyer in New York the papers 
to release the debt, so he had given father a receipt 
for the money paid, stating in full for what it was 
given.” 

“ Then he really robbed your father of thirty 
thousand dollars ! ” Louise cried indignantly. 

“ Yes, Miss Morton, but that is not the end 
of my story. Two days later father w'as taken seri- 
ously ill. He lived less than a week. In those last 
sad days he talked much about my future. He said 
that if I could do it without too much trouble and 
expense, he hoped I would retain Winthrop House 
as a home for at least a part of each year. It has 
always been Aunt Patty’s home, and father knew 
that she w'ould be wretched if she had to go anywhere 
else to live. He would not let me bind myself by 
any promise, but told me what he would like done, 
knowing that I would make every effort to carry out 
his wishes. Twice he spoke of his relief because the 
indebtedness to Green had been discharged.” 

As he had gone on Paul Winthrop’s voice had 
dropped a note lower and was not quite steady. He 
turned away his face. Louise waited a moment, 
then laid her hand on his arm with a second’s pres- 
sure. The man understood the sympathy offered 
him, and looked round to smile into the girl’s eyes. 

“ Thank you ! I wish you could have known him. 
He was indeed one of nature’s noblemen,” 


AX AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH 151 


“ What a sacred charge the old home and dear 
Miss Winthrop will always be to you ! ” 

“ You are right. Aunt Patty has been one of the 
blessings of my whole life. To resume my story. 
It was not until a week after father’s burial that I 
remembered I had not seen the receipt given him by 
Green. This thought occurred to me when I was 
going over the papers in my father’s desk. Every- 
thing had been left to me, except that money enough 
had been set aside for Maurice to enable him to com- 
plete his education. The business of turning things 
over to me had been reduced, by my father’s fore- 
sight, to the merest form. When I had spent an 
hour looking for the receipt I called Maurice in to 
help me. Miss Morton, Maurice and I still have 
times of looking for that paper. In fact, we have 
leafed many of the books through.” 

“ Do you mean that it has never been found ” 

“ That is exactly what I mean.” 

“ But -will that make any difference as long as it 
was paid.^ Surely Mr. Green can do nothing about 
it.?” 

“ I -made the mistake of assuming that Thomas 
Green possessed an amount, if only a small one, of 
common honesty. I knew that he had cheated my 
father in a business transaction, but I did not think 
that he would openly steal. After a month had 
passed, and our search for the receipt had proved 
unavailing, I wrote him a note stating the case and 
asking if he recalled what disposition my father had 
made of the receipt. The man was wary; he saw a 


152 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


chance to demand a second payment of the debt. 
His reply was carefully worded. To what did I 
refer After an interchange of several letters I 
sought an interview with him, and he denied that 
the money had been paid him.” 

In her interest in the story Louise had forgotten 
everything else. Her color paled as she cried, 

“ The wretch I But could you not prove that it 
had been paid him.'* Ah, he had not forwarded the 
papers to you ! ” 

“No. I do not think at the time that Thomas 
Green meant that for a trick. But it helped him 
on. The matter has never been settled. He presses 
his claim against the estate, and I think the only 
reason why he has delayed bringing proceedings 
against me, as my father’s heir, is the fear that, after 
a suit had been started, the paper would be found. 
That would put him in a bad light with the public 
and injure his business.” 

“ Then you do not tlnnk he knows what became 
of the receipt.^ ” 

“ I am sure he does not. There are times when 
I conclude it must have been destroyed, yet I cannot 
see how it could be. Of course, if it is not found, 
there is a chance for Green to win the suit that he 
will eventually bring against me. He is anxious to 
avoid a suit, and several times he has tried to induce 
me to sign the place over to him. Indeed he has 
offered terms which, if it was a legitimate sale, would 
be very favorable.” 


AN AFTERNOON ON THE BEACH 153 


Louise looked at him wistfully. “ Please do not 
think me presuming, Mr. Winthrop, but I hope cir- 
cumstances will not oblige you to part with your 
home.” 

“ Instead of thinking you presuming I am glad to 
have you manifest an interest in my affairs. I shall 
never let Winthrop House pass into Thomas Green’s 
hands. However, to pay the thirty thousand dol- 
lars will compel me to sell the home farm and the 
property that has made an income for the support 
of the place. I may even be obliged to mortgage 
Winthrop House. Now do you wonder that I call 
Thomas Green a scoundrel?” 

“ I do not. And to think, if it had not been for 
that frightful accident, Rosalind would have been the 
wife of a thief ! ” 

Paul sprang up. “Now I did not intend to talk 
to you of such somber things. We will walk down 
to that curve in the shore; from there the view is 
fine. Then we must go back and take our palatial 
car over to the dock.” 

It was sunset when they left the boat at the city 
wharf. Back of the quaint little town the sky was 
aflame with the opal-tinted splendor of the sunset, 
and as the two walked along, past the tree-embow- 
ered Plaza and the little postoffice park, where beds 
of flowers were bursting into bloom, the soft, sweet- 
scented air caressed their faces. 

“ Christmas Eve ! ” said Paul. “ Every Christ- 
mas of my life has been spent at Winthrop House. 


154 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


I know nothing of your snow and ice for Christmas 
Day. It quickens my heart to think that, all over 
the world, ’tis Christmas Eve. ’Tis 

“ Christmas in the land of the fir-tree and pine ; 

Christmas in the land of the palm-tree and vine; 

Christmas where snow -peaks shine silent and white; 

Christmas where corn fields are sunny and bright — 

Christmas everywhere, Christmas to-night, 

Christmas to-night.” 

“ And it is because of the kindness of you and 
yours that mother and I will have a home Christ- 
mas,” Louise said softly. 

In silence they threaded the thronged and narrow 
street. As they ascended the steps of the old house 
Paul took the girl’s hand in his. 

“ The thought of that poor girl up stairs and her 
trouble will prevent our Christmas from being a 
merry one. Still, it may be a glad one, and your 
presence in my home, Louise, is the best gift the 
season could give me.” 

Even as the last words left his lips he released her 
hand and opened the hall-door, thus sparing her the 
necessity of a reply. Louise ran up stairs to 
inquire for Rosalind, her cheeks burning and her eyes 
shining. 


CHAPTER XV 


CHRISTMAS AT WTNTHROP HOUSE 

HRISTMAS morning dawned warm and sunny. 



There was no change in the sick-room save that 
for the first time since the accident Rosalind ate 
the light breakfast offered her with evident relish. 
Down stairs the rooms were gay with evergreens and 
holly. Sue served a breakfast of grapefruit, fried 
chicken, ham and eggs, hot biscuit, corn-bread, and 
her excellent coffee. 

Breakfast over, the little party adjourned to the 
library, where, according to the custom of years, the 
Christmas packages that had arrived by mail or by 
messengers were opened and the gifts from one mem- 
ber of the family to another were given. An effort 
had been made by all to make the gift-giving inex- 
pensive. There were flowers, photographs, new 
books, and, for Louise from Paul, a quantity of new 
music. 

Miss Patty and Mrs. Morton had attended church 
on Christmas Eve, and this morning Paul took the 
two older ladies on a round of visits always paid by 
the Winthrops on Christmas to the needy. Louise 
had helped pack the baskets, and, when the loaded 
automobile had started, she lingered a little on the 
veranda, drinking in the warm, flower-scented air, 
155 


156 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


while her thoughts w'ere with loved friends in her 
Northern home. 

Dinner was served as always at one. Miss Patty 
and Sue had planned a feast, preparing many dishes 
of which the two men had been fond when they were 
boys. As they rose from the table the nurse ap- 
peared in the doorway. “ Miss Huff told me to ask 
if you would play for her, Miss Morton.” 

Louise at once sat down at the piano. After she 
had played for some time, her mother said : 

“ Sing some of the old Christmas carols, dear.” 

The girl smiled lovingly over at her mother, and 
a moment later her sweet voice rose in the Christmas 
carols and hymns that had long been familiar to the 
two older ladies. She closed with: 

“ Peace, peace to thee, the troubled waters stilled! 

God grant it that thy way 
Be through tranquil, unruffled tide 
This blessed Christmas Day.” 

Rising Louise said, “ I will go up and see Rosa- 
lind, Dr. Winthrop. Somehow I feel that she is 
beginning to realize where she is and what has hap- 
pened.” 

Rosalind held out both hands when her friend en- 
tered the room. “ Your music soothed me, dear. I 
am going to sleep, and when I wake I want you to 
come in and talk to me. There are so many things 
I want to ask about.” 

“ Very well, dear. I shall be near whenever you 
want me.” 


CHRISTMAS AT WINTHROP HOUSE 157 


Tlie golden sunset had merged into nightfall, and 
the party at Winthrop House sat round an open 
fire in the library, when from the floor above came a 
cry. It was Rosalind’s voice, frightened, frantic. 

Paul sprang up to turn on the electric lights. As 
I.ouise rose she looked questioningly at Maurice. 

“ Had you not better come up, too? ” 

“ I will go up stairs, but will remain in the hall. 
Perhaps you would better leave the door ajar. 
Then I can hear what she says, and judge if I am 
needed.” 

As Louise ran up the stairs the cry rang out 
again. She found Rosalind trying to sit up in bed, 
and at the same time pushing the nurse away from 
her. 

“What are you doing here? Where am I? O 
Louise ! It was such a dreadful dream ! ” 

“ But you are awake now,” and Louise gently 
put Rosalind back among her pillows. “ Do not try 
to sit up, dear. You have been very sick.” 

“ Have I? Where are we? And where is Cousin 
Myra? Oh, I remember! We came to St. Augus- 
tine, and so did you. There was — I would ride 
the horse, and he ran. Then — ” 

She paused, clutching Louise’s hand with feverish 
strength. Her eyes widened. Gradually a memory 
of the past was returning to her. Louise gently 
smoothed the glossy black hair. 

“ Yes, he threw you in front of this place, Win- 
throp House. The people have been very kind.” 

“ How long ago was that? ” 


158 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Nearly two weeks.” 

“ I remember now,” and a flame-like sparkle came 
into the girl’s black eyes. “ Cousin Myra came here. 
And she — she said Thomas Green would not marry 
me, because — O Louise ! because my face was 
scarred and I was crippled. Is it true? ” 

A wild prayer for help went up from Louise’s 
heart. She must not fail Rosalind. And the in- 
valid would have to know the truth. 

“Both your face and your ankle were injured, 
dear, but w’e cannot tell just yet how badly. But 
it was better to learn how little Mr. Green cared for 
you before your marriage than — ” 

“ Don’t talk about Thomas Green. I always 
loathed him, and I was going to marry him for 
wealth and position. But, Louise, surely even for 
that God would not punish me by scarring my face 
and making me walk with a limp. I could not, I 
will not, stand that ! ” 

“ Please, please, Rosalind, do not allow yourself 
to become so excited. God did not punish you. 
His love and compassion — ” 

“ I will not stand it ! ” Rosalind reiterated, her 
breath coming in gasps. “ There is a way out, and 
I will take it. I will die.” 

Her voice rose higher and higher. At that mo- 
ment Maurice Winthrop entered the room. Rosa- 
lind looked questioningly from him to Louise. 

“ I remember him. In those days when I did not 
know who or where I was I called him the strong 
man.” 


CHRISTMAS AT WINTHROP HOUSE 159 


“ It is Doctor Winthrop, your physician,” Louise 
said. 

“ And your friend, Miss Huif,” said Maurice as 
he stooped down to lay one cool hand on the girl’s 
wrist. “ I know just how terrible this hour is for 
you, but there is hope. Even if your face is scarred 
for a time, the scar may fade. And we hope the 
ankle will be all right.” 

“ You hope, and that means that you are afraid. 
Lame and disfigured! I will not — ” 

Her voice was a scream. Maurice Winthrop’s 
hand tightened on the slender wrist and his voice 
grew stern. 

“You must! That is why men and women bear 
things that break their hearts and turn daylight into 
blackest night — because there is no way of escape. 
God knows I would ease this pain for you if I could, 
but all we can do is to help a little. And, because 
you must bear it, you will be brave.” 

“ I will not ! ” she screamed. “ Oh, you don’t 
know! I am penniless and alone. If I had money 
to buy my bread, I’d slink away into some dark cor- 
ner and bear it, because I must. But I can’t live. 
Do you suppose. Doctor Winthrop, that there is a 
God.'* It doesn’t seem as if He would inflict such a 
punishment on a girl who was brought up to think 
that her beauty was her only capital.” 

Her voice had gi’own low and pathetic, and Doc- 
tor Winthrop bent lower, his eyes meeting and hold- 
ing Rosalind’s gaze. 

“Why do you reproach God for what happened.^ 


160 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Would you have listened to any warning, any re- 
monstrance ? ” 

“No! But God might have stopped me in some 
way.” 

“ Miss Huff, man was given a certain amount of 
freedom, the ability to shape his life to a great ex- 
tent. You would ride the horse. Personally I 
think the fate that is yours, even with the pangs of 
poverty added, preferable to being the wife of 
Thomas Green.” 

Rosalind shivered. “ But to think that he dared 
throw me over like a soiled glove ! O Louise ! do you 
love me ? I have been so wicked ! ” 

“ I do love you, Rosalind, and mother and I are 
going to stand by you. Do not think about your 
future — not until you are well and strong. Doctor 
Winthrop and his people have been very kind, and 
they will help us make some arrangements for you 
when they are necessary.” 

“ Now that is the way to talk. Miss Morton,” and 
Maurice’s eyes smiled, although under his brown 
mustache his lips were set in a stern line. “ Trust 
us. Miss Huff. We have a right to ask that, be- 
cause thus far we have not failed you. Be strong. 
Why, little girl, I’d not so much mind dying if I 
could die fighting. Be brave, and we wdll help you 
win.” 

Sudden tears dimmed Rosalind’s dark eyes. 
“ Don’t think me unappreciative. I do care for all 
you’ve done, but — well, if God is good, perhaps He 


CHRISTMAS AT WINTHROP HOUSE 161 


will let me die after a little. I can’t be strong, but I 
will try to pretend that I am brave.” 

“ Strength for your needs will come,” Maurice 
said, and his tone, rather than his words, carried con- 
viction. 

A momentary smile curved Rosalind’s lips. “ In 
my half-delirium I called you the strong man. I re- 
member, when we read ‘ The Song of Hiawatha ’ in 
school, how I loved ‘ the very strong man Kwasind.’ 
I think you are like him. 

“ He the strongest of all mortals. 

He the mightiest among many. 

For his very strength he loved him. 

For his strength allied to goodness. 

You are strong. Doctor Winthrop, for I feel that I 
must obey you, and I will.” 

“ My first command is one that you can obey — 
silence. We have talked too much; your pulse is 
quickening. Do not brood over your trouble, not 
if you can help it. Remember that this is Christ- 
mas Day, and that Christ came to heal the broken- 
hearted and give strength to the weak.” 

She would have spoken again, but Louise tenderly 
laid her finger-tips on the sick girl’s lips. “ I am 
going to sit here by her. Doctor Winthrop. The 
nurse can have a couple of hours’ liberty.” 

Maurice Winthrop went away. In the doorway 
he paused for a backward glance, saying, 

“ Remember, Miss Huff, ‘ the very strong man ’ is 


162 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


ut your disposal whenever you care to summon lum. 
Remember, too, that he will either find or make a 
wa}"^ out of your trouble.” 

He passed on. Paul was in the upper hall, having 
just come from his own room. He put his arm 
through Maurice’s and drew him out on the upper 
balcony, closing the door behind them. 

“ Sit down here in the hammock with me, Maurice, 
as we used to sit j^ears ago, and tell me what you 
meant by what I just heard you say. I know the 
necessity of quieting the little girl in there, but it 
seems to me you are making a promise that will not 
bear a literal translation.” 

For a moment there was silence. Overhead a full 
moon rode through a cloudless sky, and the light 
transformed the softly undulating water into a 
stretch of gleaming silver. On the back lawn the 
shadows of the trees were sharply outlined. A slight 
breeze swept through the branches of a pine that 
grew near, and there floated up to the two men a 
breath of the tree’s resinous odor. When Maurice 
spoke, it was slowly, as if weighing each word. 

“ I know it is a responsibility to make such a prom- 
ise, Paul, yet when I made it I realized what it meant. 
It was no idle tale to quiet a sick girl. Do not ask 
me, for I cannot tell you, why I am determined to see 
this thing through. I am going to try to make good 
the injury done by Thomas Green and Mrs. Dalton. 
Doctor Gaylord says it is because I am only just 
beginning my professional career, and that in time 


CHRISTMAS AT WINTHROr HOUSE 163 


I will learn not to take things so hard personally. 
But I think — ” 

“What do you think, Maurice.^” Paul asked 
when he saw that his cousin was not going to com- 
plete the sentence. 

“ I think I am roused to make this effort because 
it is my conviction that there is in Rosalind Huff’s 
nature something, once brought into action, of singu- 
lar worth. We must help her. A way out of her 
trouble must be found or made. The Mortons will 
do all in their power for her, and we must help them.” 

“ We will. You know we are agreed on that. 
By the way, when I was out with Aunt Patty and 
Mrs. Morton this morning I saw Graham. He told 
me it was rumored around town that Green was to re- 
turn here in a fortnight. You know Green said in 
our last interview that his claim against the Win- 
throp estate must be met before he returned to New 
York, so I imagine, once he is back here, he will press 
the affair.” 

“ Paul, I cannot give up the hope that the missing 
receipt must turn up. The other day when I had a 
half-hour’s leisure I went into the library and turned 
over the leaves of some of the books — the poets of 
whom your father was so fond.” 

Paul stood up, one hand resting on his cousin’s 
shoulder, saying, 

“ I too feel that it must be found, but we have 
searched in every probable place. On one point I 
can frustrate Green’s hopes; Winthrop House shall 


164 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


not go into his hands, not if I have to spend the best 
years of my life paying interest upon a debt that 
keeps it from him.” 

“ That’s the talk ! I wish that St. Augustine 
could be made too hot for Green. There was a time 
when he was made much of here, but the tide is turn- 
ing. Now I must run over to the hospital before bed- 
time.” 


CHAPTER XVI 


A HARD FIGHT 

L ouise spent much of that night in the sick- 
room. For hours Rosalind lay still, her only 
movement being the convulsive opening and closing 
of her emaciated hands. Her eyes were not closed 
but stared straight ahead of her. Doctor Winthrop 
had advised quiet, so Louise did not attempt to en- 
ter into conversation with her. Occasionally she 
would take Rosalind’s hand in hers, but there was no 
responsive pressure of the slim fingers. 

It was about one o’clock when, with no warning, 
Rosalind began to cry. At first the tears flowed 
down her cheeks in silence, but in five minutes’ time 
she was crying aloud, her slight form shaken by 
sobs. 

Louise tried to quiet her. “ What is it, dear ? 
No, don’t try to tell me ; I know. Don’t cry so, dear- 
est; you wull make yourself worse.” 

No word passed Rosalind’s lips, but the cr^dng 
was continued. At last, really frightened, Louise 
ran down the hall to rap on Maurice’s door. 

“Will you come at once, ‘Doctor Winthrop? 
Rosalind is worse.” 

She had only just regained her place when he en- 
tered, and she hurriedly explained. Tlie young doc- 
tor fro.wned. 


165 


166 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ The tears may relieve her, but this sobbing must 
stop,” he said. “ Miss Huff, you must control your- 
self!” 

At first Rosalind did not appear to hear his words. 
After they had been several times repeated she 
sobbed, 

“ Why do you care.!^ It does not matter if it does 
make me worse. I want to die.” 

“ But we want you to live,” Maurice said gently. 
“ All the crying, repining, and despair will not 
change the situation. You must endure life as it is. 
I wish that you would be hopeful, believing, as I do, 
that the passage of time will do much to set matters 
right. I am sure there is in your nature, choked 
down, denied expression, real courage, the courage 
that faces life and its trials unflinchingly.” 

Rosalind had ceased to sob. She looked wistfully 
into the strong face that bent over her. “ But you 
don’t know. Doctor Winthrop.” 

“ Not your particular trouble, I own. Still I 
sense its depths, the fierceness of the pain. I’d bear 
it for you, little girl, if I could, but it is your trou- 
ble, your burden. You must bear it, and I want you 
to do it like a hero. A poet said, 

“ When all the blandishments of life are gone, 

The coward sneaks to death, the brave live on, 

and you are no coward.” 

“ The poet knew, didn’t he ? ” and the girl’s face 
brightened, ‘ All the blandishments of life.’ That 
was the fine dresses I craved, the jewels, the beauty, 


A HARD FIGHT 


167 


the ease from care, luxury, society. They are all 
gone, and there is nothing left for me but to be brave, 
but I don’t know how.” 

“ But you will learn,” said the doctor cheerfully. 
“ I predict that life is going to hold a great deal of 
happiness for you yet.” 

In one way the physician had accomplished his 
purpose ; Rosalind had stopped crying. After a 
time she said, 

“ Louise dear, you must go to bed. I will be 
quiet. Indeed I am too tired to talk any more.” 

The doctor and Louise left the chamber, and as 
they walked down the hall, to the door of Louise’s 
room Maurice said, 

“ You look exhausted. Miss Morton. Do not rise 
in the morning until you are rested. ' If Miss Huff 
needs you we will call you. But we must conserve 
our strength ; the battle will be a long and hard one.” 

Louise sighed. Tired and chilled, she felt her 
courage and helpfulness slipping from her. 

“ Will it not be a losing battle. Doctor Win- 
throp.^ ” she asked. “ How my heart aches for Rosa- 
lind, for what has she to look forward to.^ Some- 
times I fear she will lose her reason.” 

“ She shall not.” The quick, almost fierce deter- 
mination of the speaker caused Louise to look ques- 
tioningly at him. “ Miss Morton, I have set myself 
to win this case. I will do it, but I must look to 
you for help.” 

Her eyes filled with tears. “ How much we owe 
you and yours! Forgive me. Doctor Winthrop, for 


168 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


losing heart. What we must do for Rosalind is to 
teach her to see the true value of life. If only she 
would carry all her distress and anguish to Christ, 
our Helper ! ” 

The next day was a hard one for all the inmates 
of Winthrop House. Rosalind would break down, 
alternately raving and weeping, then she would make 
a pitiful attempt to regain her composure. In the 
afternoon it was necessary that the wound on her 
face should be redressed. Doctor Gaylord came to 
assist. Rosalind herself insisted that Louise should 
not remain in the room. 

“ It will do me no good and will be hard for you. 
I have a faint remembrance of the torture I endured 
from the dressing when I was delirious.” 

When Louise was gone Rosalind beckoned to the 
nurse, commanding, “ Bring me a hand-glass. I 
want to see my face when the bandages are removed.” 

Maurice shook his head. “ No, nurse. I cannot 
let you do that, Miss Huff.” 

“ Why ? I believe it is worse than you have told 
me. You have been deceiving me. Doctor Winthrop.” 

He looked straight into her eyes. “ I know what 
is best for you, and you cannot do this.” 

“ Then I’ll not allow you to dress my face.” 

“ That speech is unworthy of you. Miss Huff. 
You will let me do what is best for you, and you will 
trust me.” 

Her lips trembled, and she held out her hand. 
“ Yes, I will. Be patient with me, and I will try to 
assume bravery, even if I do not possess it.” 


A HARD FIGHT 


169 


As the days went by Rosalind did try. At first 
the effort was little more than an attempt to restrain 
the frantic expression of her grief, an assumption of 
the courage that she did not possess. She made this 
effort because she realized how greatly she was in- 
debted to those about her. Her friends were too sin- 
cere, too well aware of the awfulness of the trouble 
that had come to the girl, to expect more of her, at 
least for a time. Yet all knew that in the near fu- 
ture the battle being waged in that upper room must 
end either in triumphant victory or in dark defeat. 

A fortnight dragged slowly by. For hours Rosa- 
lind would lie still, her eyes fixed in an unseeing stare. 
She W'ould alternately clench her hands until the 
nails would cut into the flesh, then open them wide. 
At other times she would cry, sobbing until she was 
exhausted. Louise was always alarmed when one of 
those crying spells occurred, but Maurice said, with 
a shrug of his shoulders, 

“ Weeping is a vent for her inward rebellion. 
Strength of body will help her to get control of her 
nerves. Frankly, Miss Morton, science has done 
about all it can do, and even human love is powerless 
in this case. We can promise to find a way out of 
Miss Huff’s dependence and helplessness, but we fail 
to help her accept life, as it has come to her, as a part 
of God’s plan.” 

The next afternoon Miss Patty was passing along 
the upper hall when she heard Rosalind weeping 
aloud. The little spinster paused for a moment, 
then entered the sick-room. 


170 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ You poor dear child! ” and Miss Patty sat down 
in a chair that stood near the bed. Leaning forward 
she drew Rosalind’s hands from over her face to hold 
them in a close, firm clasp. “ Dear heart, it is more 
than thirty years ago since I faced my supreme bat- 
tle of life. I thought that my heart was broken.” 

The girl looked up questioningly. “ I’m sorry for 
people whose hearts are broken. Miss Patty, but 
surely no one ever faced such a future as mine,” she 
said, her voice shaken with half-suppressed sobs. 

“ Now I’ve been asking myself about that,” and 
Miss Patty’s tone was a musing one. “ Is it easier 
to bear heartbreak when it is for some one else than 
when it is one’s own life dream that is shattered? 
You see, my dear, when I was eighteen I was engaged 
to be married to Edgar Blake. He was a young law- 
yer, the most promising man that St. Augustine has 
ever produced. Every one said he would be a United 
States Senator if he did not come to be the President 
of our country. We were to be married in October. 

, A month before that date Edgar was out on the ocean 
in a sailboat when a sudden squall overturned his 
little craft. He was drowned, and it was a Aveek later 
before his body Avas Avashed ashore, tAventy miles 
doAA’ii the coast.” 

Miss Patty’s sweet voice had grown very low and 
the faint flush had faded from her cheeks. Rosalind, 
who had struggled up on her elbow, held out one 
hand appealingly, crying: 

“ Hoav did you ever bear it ? ” 

“Why, there was no other way. At first I Avas 


A HARD FIGHT 


171 


wild not only with grief but also with rebellion. Ed- 
gar’s life was so full of promise that I felt I would 
gladly have died for him. A little later, Rosalind, 
I came to realize what I knew all along — that I and 
my beloved Mere in God’s hands, that in life or in 
death, in sunshine or in storm, all is M^ell with us. 
And, child, I reckon that is the lesson you must learn. 
There is only one true help for you, and that is in 
opening your heart for the abiding presence of the 
Christ M'hose comforting M'ords were, ‘ Let not your 
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ ” 

“ But how can I, Miss Patty ^ ” 

“ Ask Mrs. Morton ; she can tell you better than 
I,” and M’ith a light kiss on the girl’s forehead. Miss 
Patty M^as gone. 

That evening Rosalind said to Louise, “ I want 
to see your mother alone. Will you ask her to come 
in M'hen she comes up stairs ? ” 

IMrs. 'Morton came wdllingly. No sooner M^as she 
seated at the side of the bed than Rosalind began : 

“ jMrs. Morton, just Mhat do you people mean by 
telling me that God will help me.? If He M'ill not 
cure my scarred face or save me from being a cripple 
how M'ill He help me .? ” 

With a start Mrs. Morton realized that she M'as 
face to face M-ith a crisis. The devout woman did 
not draM^ back from the privilege that M’as hers, but 
an earnest prayer for guidance went up from her 
heart. Gently but firmly she told of God’s power to 
save from sin and to make of any life that was given 
to Him a glad service. 


172 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Rosalind frowned. “ But if He can do this why 
does He not without my asking?” 

“ Now, dear child, you know better than that. He 
is waiting to give his peace and joy, but the accept- 
ance must be yours.” 

“ I want peace more than anything else in all the 
world. It has never been mine, Mrs. Morton.” 

For an hour the older woman talked, reinforcing 
her pleas by the precious promises of Holy Writ. 
Rosalind was eager, questioning, but a sad look came 
to her face. 

“ It is not for me,” she said at last, her lips trem- 
bling. “ I do not blame Him. You see I’ve turned 
to Him, not because I love Plim, but because I want 
His help.” 

“ And He wants to help you, dear. The love will 
come in a mighty sea when you open your heart for 
Him to enter in.” 

Kneeling by the bed Mrs. Morton prayed to the 
God whom she had served so long and so gladly, and 
Rosalind lay still, her breath hushed. To the girl 
with her lack of Christian training that quiet, trust- 
ing communion with Deity was a wondrous thing. 
Yet it was so far removed from anything in her own 
experience that she seemed unable to grasp its mean- 
ing for her. 

A little later Mrs. Morton went away. Her last 
words were, “ He will be with you to-night, Rosa- 
lind. Christ’s parting message to his own was, ‘ Lo, 
I am with you always,’ and, my child, his promises 
never fail.” 


CHAPTER XVII 


Maurice’s promise 

T he next day was cool and rainy. All through 
the day Rosalind talked little. She had none 
of the crying spells that had become so frequent. 
When spoken to she replied in a voice that she tried 
hard to keep low and gentle. Much of the time she 
lay with her eyes closed, her hands nervously opening 
and closing. 

Mrs. Morton spent much time with her. She did 
not talk much, but she read aloud from God’s Word, 
repeating over and over the promises that had been 
her solace in the years of sunlight and shadow that 
had been her own portion. 

That night Rosalind slept soundly, for she had 
been awake much of the preceding one. When she 
woke the first faint gray of early morning was filling 
the room. Lifting her head she looked over at the 
cot where the nurse lay sleeping quietly. 

’ Rosalind sat up in bed. Always when she wakened 
from sleep there came to her with crushing force the 
memory of the cloud that had descended upon her 
life. That morning the memory was so vivid that a 
low moan broke from her lips. She shrank back 
among her pillows, cowering, trembling. Was there 
no help for her? 

Suddenly there came to her, as distinctly as if 
173 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


m 

spoken aloud, the words that Mrs. Morton had re- 
peated a few hours before — “ Come unto Me, all ye 
that labor and are heavy laden.” She was so laden ! 
The burden resting upon her shoulders was more than 
she could bear! He was real, that invisible but all- 
powerful One who promised such peace as the world 
could not give. He was real, because the daily life 
of those about her testified to His power. 

Rosalind’s hands fell from her face. In the in- 
tensity of her thought she held her breath. Slowly 
the grayness of the room was permeated by a rosy 
flush. From the garden below a mocking-bird’s 
voice rang out, flooding the air with sweetest music. 

“ I want to come, O Father ! Help me ! ” she 
whispered. 

Five minutes went by. To the girl there, crouch- 
ing low in the dim morning light, that was a crucial 
time, a time too personal and sacred for many words. 
When it was past all the unrest, the wild fear, was 
gone from her heart. The future yet held its prob- 
lems, for she was alone in the world, lacking the 
money, skill and strength necessary for her to care 
for herself. Yet all was well. The peace for which 
she had longed was hers, and already she was learning 
that it was Indeed a peace that passes all under- 
standing. 

When Louise came into the sick-room that morn- 
ing she saw at once the change in her friend’s face, 
and she understood. 

“ Peace came to you in the silent watches of the 


MAURICE’S PROMISE 


175 


night, dear,” she said, bending down to lay her 
rosy cheek against Rosalind’s hand. 

“ Yes, Louise. I’ve been so weak, so wicked, but 
He has forgiven me. I don’t know how I am going 
to serve Him, but He will show me the way.” 

There was great rejoicing at Winthrop House 
over Rosalind’s changed outlook upon life. It was 
not alone the Mortons and Miss Patty that rejoiced; 
both of the Winthrops were earnest Christians, and 
their hearts were made glad. 

Her recovery was more rapid from that time. 
There w'as no more weeping and repining. For 
every kindness shown her she was most grateful. 
Yet it was only natural that her mind should go out 
questioningly to the future, the future in which she 
must herself provide for her needs. 

“ How am I ever going to earn my living. Doctor 
Winthrop.? ” she asked one morning w'hen Maurice 
came into her room to find her seated in an arm-chair 
by an open window. 

The young physician stood by the window, his 
face turned away, as he replied to her question by 
another one, “ Do you remember how some time ago 
I promised to find or make a way out of your trouble 
for you.? ” 

Rosalind nodded. “ Yes, but I was so unreason- 
able, so wilful, that you people were driven to quiet 
me in any possible way. Have you a plan in mind 
for me.? ” 

“ Yes, Rosalind, I have a plan that promises a 


176 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


satisfying success. But I cannot tell it to you until 
you are stronger. How much do you trust me.^ ” 

“ Lots, as the children say,” and her pallid face 
was brightened by a smile. 

“ Prove it by not questioning me until I am ready 
to explain, which I will do all in good time.” 

“ 0 Kwasind ! How good God is to give me a 
friend like you! Before this wonderful change came 
to me I could not have been patient enough to wait, 
but now I am going to trust you in this without ques- 
tioning and nagging.” 

All went well with Rosalind after that. While it 
was not possible for her to lay aside her grief for her 
maimed condition, she began to look forward to life 
not as a thing of frivolous pleasure but as a service 
to the One who had sacrificed so much for sinning 
and sorrowing humanity. Perhaps it was owing to 
Miss Patty’s and Mrs. Morton’s cheerful, kindly 
Christlike spirit that one of the first things that Rosa- 
lind did was to try to wait upon herself. She sat up 
much of the time, and a wheeled chair had been pro- 
duced which enabled her to propel herself around the 
rooms and out through the hall upon the upper bal- 
cony. The hours spent in the open air gave her 
strength, and she found them passing pleasantly. 
She watched the sparkling water, the moving clouds, 
and the bit of life visible from the balcony. It was 
at her suggestion that the nurse returned to the hos- 
pital. 

“ You do so much for me, Louise, that I am sure 
we can get along without her,” she said. “ I see 


MAURICE’S PROMISE 


177 


where I can do without much of the care that I have 
been taking as a matter of course.” 

Doctor Winthrop favored the arrangement. “ The 
foot must remain in the cast for a time, but when 
you are a little stronger I am going to provide you 
with a pair of crutches and teach you to use them. 
Then you can not only get around the house but also 
out in the grounds.” 

The girl threw out her hands appealingly. “ Will 
I have to use crutches always, Doctor Winthrop?” 

“ Now what put that into your head? Indeed 
you will not; I am sure of that.” 

At last the day came when the bandage was re- 
moved from Rosalind’s face. The cut had extended 
half way across her cheek, terminating at the upper 
part of her ear. The scar was still a vivid red, and 
the part of it nearest the ear was the worst, but Doc- 
tor Gaylord hastened to say to Rosalind : 

“ While you have heard it many times, I want to 
repeat once more that, with the passage of time, this 
color will fade. In a year’s time the scar will not 
be very noticeable.” 

“ And you can do much to render it less noticeable 
by your style of hairdressing,” Louise said. “ You 
know, dear, it is becoming to you to wear your hair 
loosely around your face.” 

Rosalind’s eyes were full of tears, but she tried 
to smile. “ I know what I will do. I’ll try, Louise, 
to cultivate such a sweet, gracious expression as your 
mother has. Then no one will think of the other. 
But I am afraid it will be a long time before I succeed.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


AN INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS GREEN 

UT of doors the lengthening days and the in- 



creasing warmth of the sun’s rays were calling 
into life new beauties. The limbs of the trees from 
which the foliage had fallen were starred with pale 
green and silver leaves. Wild flowers w'ere begin- 
ning to gem the woodlands, and the gardens w’ere gay 
and fragrant. 

One morning as Louise sat on the veranda, waiting 
for Paul, who was going across the San Sebastian 
River with her to gather jasmine, she saw Thomas 
Green coming up the walk that led from the street. 
He came briskly up the walk, and at the sight of 
Louise he paused to lift his hat. “ You, Miss Mor- 
ton! Are you still staying here? I called to see 
Mr. Winthrop on — ” 

Just then Paul emerged from the hall. At the 
sight of Green the young man’s face darkened, and 
he said coldly, “ Good morning.” 

“ Good morning, Winthrop. I came out to have 
a talk with you, a business interview.” 

“ Very well. Be seated here on the veranda. Will 
you excuse me for a few minutes, Miss Morton? ” as 
Louise was turning to go into the house. “ Our 
going will not be long delayed.” 


178 


INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS GREEN 179 


Green sank into a chair, looking over at Paul with 
what he meant for a cordial smile on his face. 

“ Sit down yourself, Winthrop. Now I’ve not 
come in war, but in peace, and I hope you’ll meet me 
half way.” 

Paul returned the other’s gaze with steady eyes, 
saying quietly, “ I do not know how I can meet you 
half way on any business proposition.” 

“ But that is what I am going to tell you. You’ll 
not mind if I smoke,” and he lighted a cigar. 

“ It’s about this place I want to talk. I want it, 
and, with the reverses you’ve met and the debt you 
owe me, you can’t afford to keep it.” 

“ You will kindly allow me to decide that matter 
for myself,” Paul said stiffly, his face flushing. 

“Now don’t be so offish, Winthrop; it’ll do no 
good. I’ve been looking up the affair of your 
father’s estate, and I know that for you to raise 
thirty thousand dollars will mean a sacrifice of about 
all you’ve got or a mortgage on Winthrop House. 
You see I know that your father disposed of about 
all he could spare to raise the other money.” 

“ Then you admit he raised it. May I ask what 
you claim he did with it, if you still deny that he 
paid you thirty thousand dollars two years ago.? ” 

It was evident that Thomas Green was making a 
gi'eat effort to keep his temper and maintain the 
friendly manner he had assumed. 

“ I do deny that your father paid the debt, Paul ; 
if he had this interview would not have been neces- 
sary. Of course every one knows that he sold much 


180 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


property at that time. I’ve always thought that 
he had been speculating and lost. But that’s noth- 
ing to do with my errand here. I came to make you 
another offer.” 

“ I do not care to hear it if it is based on the 
assumption that the Winthrop estate is indebted to 
you for even a single dollar.” 

Green leaned forward, looking at Paul from under 
his drooping lids. 

“ See here, Winthrop. I have the papers to prove 
the debt. You say it was paid, but admit that you 
cannot produce the receipt which you claim I gave 
your father. Such a fake story as it all is! Now 
I’d rather not go to law over it. If you will turn 
over Winthrop House to me, in part payment of the 
debt. I’ll cut off four thousand dollars. Pay me 
twenty-six thousand dollars, and let Winthrop 
House, at a fair price, be included in that payment, 
and I’ll turn over the papers.” 

“ If I needed to prove that your claim was an un- 
just one, that offer would furnish it,” Paul said con- 
temptuously. “ Mr. Green, you are not noted for 
generosity. Why do you make me this offer.'’ ” 

“ Well, for one thing, I know it will not be easy 
for me to get justice here, w'here everybody stands up 
for you just because you were born in the town. 
You’d better accept, Winthrop. Indeed you cannot 
afford to do otherwise.” 

“ See here. Green, you robbed my father of thirty 
thousand dollars. Now you are trying to rob me of 
a like amount. I realize that if the matter goes into 


INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS GREEN 181 


the courts, and you win, I will have a heavy bill of 
costs to pay. But it will be worth what it will cost 
me to show up your transactions with my father. I 
hope to convince a jury morally that the money was 
paid, exactly as I say, even if there is no legal proof. 
By the time I am through with you I do not think 
St. Augustine will be a pleasant place for you to have 
a home.” 

A muttered oath broke from the older man’s lips, 
as he exclaimed, “ You shall see ! Yes, you shall see 
what money can do! I’ll begin suit against you to- 
day, and there’ll be no cutting down on the debt. 
I’ll have every dollar of it.” 

“ But before you get it you will have to swear 
that you have not already received payment.” 

“ And I’ll sw'ear it. What’s more I’ll ruin you, if 
it costs twice thirty thousand dollars. You’ll see 
w’hat it means to get in my way.” 

Just then Maurice came up the walk, whistling 
softly to himself. At the sight of Green he stopped 
short, looking inquiringly from one heated face to 
the other. Green’s anger had burned to white heat, 
and he cried, 

“ And here’s another one of your cursed tribe. 
I’ve a debt to pay him, and Thomas Green never for- 
gets an injury. It was you, you young popinjay, 
who dared to make yourself so prominent in the case 
of that silly little fool, Rosalind Huff. I suppose 
you think it is my duty to marry her even now, but 
when Thomas Green marries it will be a woman who 
is an ornament to his home.” 


182 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Let me tell you, Green, I would rather a thou- 
sand times see Rosalind HufF in her grave than know 
that she was your wife I ” 

“You idiot! She was willing enough to marry 
me.” 

“ No, not willing, and you knew it, for you hired 
Mrs. Dalton to help on your suit. The girl yielded 
to her cousin’s wishes, but she did not understand 
clearly what she was doing. Now she is free, and, 
although she paid an awful price for her freedom, the 
day will come, if it has not now arrived, when she will 
thank God that she paid it.” 

Green muttered one oath after another. “ You 
fellows are trying to hurt me in St. Augustine. Al- 
ready I’ve had the cold shoulder turned to me here, 
and I know it is your work — one accusing me of 
dishonesty and the other trying to make folks sym- 
pathize with that fool girl. I’ll show you both.” 

It was Paul who said, “ Very well, but I am going 
to ask you to go. If you have any further communi- 
cation to make to me, please make it through my law- 
yer. I am not willing to receive you here.” 

“ But before I go I’ll tell you what you can ex- 
pect,” Green cried with another oath. “ To-day I 
shall start suit against you, Paul Winthrop, and 
you’ll pay dear for your highheadedness. As for 
this upstart young doctor, we will see if I and my 
money have any influence here. I’ll get him turaed 
out of that hospital, and I’ll — ” 

' His wrath choked him, and he went down the steps, 
turning round to shake his fist and mutter threats. 


INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS GREEN 183 

Paul looked over at his cousin. “ Maurice, I’d 
burn the old house down before he should come to 
live under its roof! He overestimates his influence 
in the town, though. I don’t think he can disturb 
you at the hospital.” 

“ I don’t think he can either, but I would be al- 
most willing to lose my position, hard as I worked for 
it, for the privilege of publicly thrashing that brute,” 
Maurice said with a frown. 

Miss Winthrop had discovered Green on the ve- 
randa, and when the cousins entered the house they 
found their aunt eager to hear of the interview that 
had taken place. Louise came down stairs, and, al- 
though she refrained from asking any questions, it 
was easy to see that she feared there had been bad 
new's. Paul laughed as he said, 

“ Now, really, ladies, it was little more than blus- 
ter. Maurice, we might as well tell the whole story. 
Let us call Mrs. Morton and go up stairs, to include 
Miss Rosalind in the recital,” 

Rosalind’s eyes opened wide with astonishment 
when the party came filing out on the balcony where 
she sat, dreaming over her book. “ Why, is it a sur- 
prise party? Louise, I thought you and Mr. Win- 
throp had gone to the woods after flowers.” 

Paul replied to the implie,d question. “ We were 
detained by a caller. Miss Rosalind. My interview 
with him was not a pleasant one, but, because you 
are all my friends, I am going to tell you about it,” 
and, after he had placed chairs for the ladles, Paul 
sat down in the hammock and told of Green’s visit, 


CHAPTER XIX 


A SURPRISE 

T he faint pink that was beginning to flush Rosa- 
lind’s cheeks faded as the speaker went on. 
Louise moved her chair a little nearer, that she might 
lay her hand on that of her friend. Rosalind’s 
fingers closed over those of the other girl, but it was 
to Maurice Winthrop that she looked appealingly. 
He met her gaze with a reassuring smile, and straight- 
way her fear departed. 

Miss Patty sighed dolefully when the story was 
done. “ I’m afraid of that man Green. When he 
used to come here, while your father was alive, Paul, 
I always felt as if a serpent had entered the dear 
old home. O my boys, I’m a silly old woman, but I 
do not want to live if I cannot live at Winthrop 
House.” 

“ Aunt Patty, don’t give that a thought,” Paul 
said gravely. “ I told Maurice I would bum the old 
house down before it should pass into Green’s hands, 
but I have no intention of being forced to such ex- 
treme measures. I shall always keep our old home. 
Aunt Patty, and it shall be our home: yours, 
Maurice’s, and mine, because we are Winthrops.” 

“ But if you have to mortgage it ! ” said Miss 
Patty, shaking her head dolefully. Suddenly her 
face brightened. “ Why didn’t I think of that be- 
184 


A SURPRISE 


185 


fore? Paul, there is my little fortune. I can get 
along without the income. You sell the stock and 
use the money to help pay the debt.” 

“ Now, Aunt Patty, I shall never disturb that lit- 
tle investment of yours that allows you to keep up 
your pet charities and buy a few new roses every 
year for my garden. Please don’t worry about it. 
I’ll work and pay the mortgage off, if I have to put 
one on the place. The education my father gave me 
is of little use if it doesn’t enable me to earn a few 
thousand dollars. But somehow I don’t believe I 
shall have to repay that debt. Right has a fashion 
of triumphing, and I have not lost faith in that re- 
ceipt turning up.” 

“ Mr. Winthrop, do you think your taking me in 
has made Mr. Green more bitter towards you?” 
Rosalind asked. 

Paul shook his head. “ No, no. Miss Rosalind. 
He had threatened to bring this suit before your ac- 
cident. It may be, though, that he was more angry 
with you, on account of your accepting shelter with 
us.” 

“Will he really bring the suit?” Louise asked. 
“ You said, Mr. Winthrop, when you first told me the 
story, that you thought he had hesitated, because he 
feared the missing paper would be found and he 
would be exposed.” 

“ So long a time has elapsed that doubtless that 
fear has waned. He dislikes the talk the suit will 
make, and he knows that, no matter what the verdict 
of the court, he will be blamed by some. Now, Miss 


186 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Louise, our jasmine gathering has been so long de- 
layed that we must start at once, if we get back in 
time for dinner, and the car is waiting.” 

It was on their return trip that Louise turned hes- 
itatingly to Paul, saying, 

“ Perhaps I have no right to ask, but, if you Can, 
I wish you would tell me what it is that your cousin 
is planning for Rosalind.” 

“ Eh 1 I am not sure I know what you mean.” 

“ And I am not sure that I can make you under- 
stand. You know she is making such a brave fight, 
and she declares that it was Doctor Winthrop who 
gave her strength and confidence to face life under 
the sadly altered circumstances. Rosalind says he 
told her he had found a way out of her trouble for 
her, and she was to prove her trust in him by not 
asking about it. I am afraid Doctor Winthrop did 
not mean all she seems to think he did. Perhaps he 
talked simply to quiet her.” 

“ I hardly think that. Maurice told me he had, 
as you say, ‘ found a way out ’ for Rosalind.” 

“ But what can it be.^ To show you how much 
his assurance means to her, last night I was talking 
of our going home and of her accompanying us, as 
mother and I think she must. Rosalind smiled and 
said, ‘ Now I can’t plan on what I am to do until I 
know what Doctor Winthrop wants me to do.’ I — 
Well, I — ” 

She stopped, and a puzzled look came to the face 
of the man who sat at her side. 

“ While I do not understand, Louise, I am sure, 


A SURPRISE 


187 


sure that you can trust Maurice. His interest in 
this case has exceeded that of the physician and come 
to be that of a friend. Perhaps that has been be- 
cause of the little girl’s loneliness, her awful sorrow. 
I am going to ask her to remain here with Aunt 
Patty. The expense of her care will be nothing in a 
place like Winthrop House. I presume that is what 
Maurice has in mind. But, whatever it is, we can 
tmst him until he speaks of his own free will; he is 
pure gold.” 

A week later the cast w'as to be taken from Rosa- 
lind’s ankle. It w'as to be done in the morning. 
The afternoon before Louise looked out on the bal- 
cony where her mother and Miss Winthrop were 
seated with Rosalind, to say, 

“ I believe I will walk over to the station and wel- 
come back the Millers. You know they return from 
a fortnight at Jacksonville on this next train.” 

“ I am sorry one of the boys is not here to take 
you over in the car,” Miss Winthrop remarked. The 
good lady, trained all her life in Southern customs, 
was often secretly a little uneasy over Louise’s long 
walks. 

“ Thank you, dear Miss Patty, but I w'ant to walk. 
It is such a glorious day that I feel like w'alking 
miles.” 

The girl’s face was pensive and a little sad when 
she reached the depot. There were times when her 
happiness w'as clouded by the thought of Rosalind’s 
illness. She seated herself and soon became en- 
grossed in watching the people that crowded the sta- 


188 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


tion. The season at St. Augustine was at its height ; 
every coming and departing train carried scores of 
tourists. 

A little stir attracted Louise’s attention, and she 
looked round and caught her breath. Just entering 
the station, followed by a porter laden with luggage, 
w’ere Mrs. Dalton and Thomas Green. 

“ Why, what does it mean ? ” Louise asked her- 
self. Then she added, “ I presume Mrs. Dalton is 
going to take the train, and he is seeing her off. 
Rosalind thinks it is strange that her cousin has not 
returned home before this. But this train is ffoing 
south.” 

Just then she heard Mr. Green’s voice. It was, 
as ever, loud, self-assertive, domineering. 

“ That rascally porter says the train is twenty 
minutes late. You sit down, and I’ll go and see 
about the luggage. If you want anything done in 
this region you better do it yourself.” 

At that moment Mrs. Dalton’s eyes met those of 
Louise. The older woman started, and a gratified, 
exultant look came to her face. 

“ You sit down here,” and Green crossed to a seat 
not far from Louise. 

The girl turned her head ; she did not want to en- 
counter the man. She heard Mrs. Dalton say, 

“ I’ll be all right. Take your time, dear. I don’t 
w’ant you to feel that I am a trouble to you in any 
way.” 

For a moment the room spun around Louise. 


A SURPRISE 


189 


Wliat did it mean? She was not kept long in doubt, 
for Mr. Green was hardly out of sight before his 
companion had risen and crossed to Louise’s side. 

“ Come over here by the window where there are 
two vacant seats. I’ve something to say to you,” 
she announced with authority. 

After a moment’s hesitation Louise rose and fol- 
lowed Mrs. Dalton, noticing as they crossed the room 
that the other was dressed in the fine new gray suit 
which she had managed to obtain while the buying 
and making of Rosalind’s trousseau was going on. 
Her gray hat was trimmed with two magnificent os- 
trich plumes. She carried her head well up and was 
a fine-looking, stylish woman. 

“ I haven’t long to talk,” she said as soon as the 
two were seated. “ We are on our way to Palm 
Beach for a few days. My husband will be back 
soon, and I am not sure that he would like to find me 
talking to you, for he classes you and Rosalind with 
what he calls ‘ the Winthrop gang.’ ” 

Louise gasped. “Your husband! Do you mean 
to say that you and Mr. Green are married? ” 

“ Of course that is what I mean. You don’t sup- 
pose I would be starting off to Palm Beach with him 
if we were not! Now admit that you are surprised.” 

“ I am very much surprised ! ” and there was some- 
thing in the girl’s frank gray eyes that caused the 
other’s gaze to waver. 

“ Now I don’t see why you should be,” she an- 
swered, a trifle resentfully. “ One might have 


190 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


thought that Mr. Green had had enough of our fam- 
ily, but he knew from the first that I was not to 
blame for Rosalind’s stubbornness.” 

“ And you were willing to become his wife, know- 
ing how brutally he treated Rosalind.^ And to be 
second choice, after knowing that he wanted to marry 
your cousin.? ” 

Myra Dalton Green’s face fell into hard lines. 
“ Now see here. Miss Morton, I am going to speak 
plainly, although I am not sure you will understand. 
There is no use of my denying that you and I see 
life differently. I tried to get Thomas Green first, 
but I saw that Rosalind’s girlish beauty attracted 
him. Then I determined that, if I could not get the 
first chance at his money, I would take what I could 
get.” 

“ And now.? ” Louise asked as the bride came to a 
stop. 

“Now I am first. I don’t expect my life will be 
all sunshine, but my days of pinching and scheming 
to make a respectable appearance are over. I had 
this in mind from the first. He liked my sympathy, 
but it was not easy for him to give up the idea of a 
young wife. There was a girl at the Alcazar, and 
yesterday she snubbed him. Things haven’t been 
going well with him; he lays it to the Winthrops. 
Well, as soon as he was snubbed he came and asked 
me to marry him. I did it right off, so that there 
could be no going back on his word.” 

Louise rose as she said, “ I am not sure that I can 
wish you happiness, Mrs. Green. Such a marriage 


A SURPRISE 


191 


seems to me a travesty of what should be sacred. 
Have you any message for Rosalind?” 

The bride’s face had flushed with anger at Louise’s 
plain words, but after all her satisfaction was too 
supreme to be downed. 

“Now what is Rosalind going to do?” she ex- 
claimed. “ A pretty bill those Winthrops will have 
against her for board and care, but it must be they 
know that they will never get it. What is she going 
to do ? ” 

“ First she is going to come back to health and 
strength, we hope. Then her friends will help her 
plan for the future. Rosalind has friends who will 
see that all is well with her.” 

“ The only thing I can think of that she can do 
is to clerk. You know some of the cheap depart- 
ment stores might take her, even if her face is 
scarred. I may be able to help her a little. Of 
course INIr. Green would not be willing for me to send 
her money, but I shall have plenty of old clothes ; my 
day of shabbiness is past. But there comes my hus- 
band,” and Louise walked away while Mrs. Green 
went forward to meet her husband. 

Louise kept out of Green’s sight until the 'arrival 
of the train. She saw that his face was gloomy, and 
his voice was a trifle louder pitched than usual. Evi- 
dently the man’s pride had received a blow; his wed- 
ding had not been the spectacular affair for which he 
had planned. 

As the train from Jacksonville came steaming into 
the long train-shed Louise went forward to greet her 


19S 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


friends and saw no more of the Greens. Tlie Mil- 
lers had considerable hand luggage, so they took the 
street car, and Louise entered it with them. Sud- 
denly Laura Miller interrupted her own merry chat- 
ter to ask, 

“What’s wrong with you, dear.^ You look so 
strange ! ” 

“ It’s astonishment,” Louise answered, and pro- 
ceeded to tell of the wedding. 

“Poor Rosalind! Will she care.?” Mrs. Miller 
asked. 

Louise shook her head. “ Not in the least, al- 
though she will be much surprised. Rosalind is in- 
different to her cousin. I must leave the car here, 
but will see you again soon.” 


CHAPTER XX 


THE OLD STORY RETOLD 

L ouise was right, while Rosalind was sur- 
prised to learn of Mrs. Dalton’s marriage there 
was nothing like regret because her cousin filled the 
place she had herself once expected to occupy. 

“ Cousin Myra dearly loves the things that money 
can buy,” the girl said, sighing a little as she re- 
called how that love of her cousin’s had once dom- 
inated her own life and brought her face to face with 
ruin, “ but it surprises me to learn that INIr. Green 
would marry her. Ever since his divorce he could 
at any time have married a woman like Myra.” 

“ I think she knew how to flatter him, to sympa- 
thize when he was snubbed or offended,” Louise sug- 
gested. “ She may have satins and diamonds, but 
she cannot have her own self-respect. I hope, dear, 
that she will never again cross your path.” 

“ So do I. Louise, I wish I need never have to go 
out in the world and meet people. Since I have 
learned what life really means I have been happier 
than ever before, even if I am scan'ed, crippled, de- 
pendent. Doctor Winthrop will find some way for 
me, and God will give me the strength to walk in it.” 

The morrow came in a burst of rain. The wind 
bent the trees that grew in the gi’ounds of Winthrop 
House nearly to the earth, and the surface of Matan- 
193 


194 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


zas Bay, sheltered as it was, was lashed into long, 
foam-crested waves. Rosalind was nervous and ill 
at ease. While Louise was talhing with her Doctor 
Winthrop knocked at the door. 

“ Now I did expect to find sunshine here, even if 
it is not to he found outside,” he announced. 

“ But if I should not be able to walk ! ” 

“ You will, Rosalind. This poor much-discussed 
ankle is going to be as well as we have dared hope 
for any of the time. We may and doubtless will 
have to wait for it to grow strong before you can use 
it, but the taking off of the cast is going to be a sort 
of festival, not an occasion for long faces. Now 
here is Sue with your breakfast, and I want you to do 
justice to it so as to be ready for all the day has to 
bring,” and the doctor smiled cheerily. 

Dr. Gaylord arrived promptly and the two phy- 
sicians worked together for an hour, at the end of 
which time they appeared on the balcony down stairs 
and Dr. Winthrop laid Rosalind on a couch, saying 
to his aunt and Louise, “ See, our patient is coming 
to bring you good news. She is going to join the 
family here now every day. I will bring over some 
cmtches from the hospital, and after dinner give her 
a lesson in the use of them.” 

While he talked, the ladies had hurried about, 
bringing cushions and a blanket and making Rosalind 
comfortable on the couch. The girl caught Louise’s 
hand, raising it to her lips. 

“ Wasn’t it dear in him to let me come down and 
tell for myself! The ankle is better than Doctor 


THE OLD STORY RETOLD 


195 


Gaylord thought it would be. I’ll limp only a little, 
and I am not going to think about that until it comes 
time for me to limp out Avhere any one will see me 
besides you dear people.” 

Rosalind soon learned to use the crutches ; in a 
week’s time she could get all around the house, though 
either Paul or Maurice always helped her up and 
down the stairs. The doctors allowed her to use her 
foot a little. On her second day down stairs came 
her first reluctance to follow Maurice’s suggestions. 
Paul was going to take the ladies for a ride, and the 
young physician told Rosalind that she could go 
with them. 

“ I don’t want to go ! Don’t you suppose I know 
how people here wull stare at me and talk about my 
willingness to marry Mr. Green for his money, and 
how he threw me over.? I am going to stay in the 
house always.” 

“ No, Rosalind,” and Maurice Winthrop’s voice 
had a note of authority in it. “ You need the out- 
door air, something more than sitting on the porch. 
Few people will recognize you. Even if they do, 
you must learn to take your place in the world, your 
rightful place.” 

She pouted. “ I don’t w'ant to do it ! Surely, 
Doctor Winthrop, you do not w^ant me to be hurt, 
and it will hurt for people to look scornfully at me ! ” 

“ I would do a great deal to prevent your being 
needlessly hurt,” and the young man’s eyes refused 
to meet Rosalind’s. “ But you remember sometimes 
we had to hurt you in order to heal your wounds. 


196 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


This may be a similar case. Many of the tourists 
who throng the town are frankly curious about you. 
But there are plenty of wise, good men and women 
here who have only the kindliest feeling for you. I 
think, little girl, you must trust me and go.” 

“ Oh, if you put it that way I’ll just have to go. 
I didn’t suppose you would require it of me.” 

“ And I didn’t think you would doubt that I would 
do what is best for you.” 

The girl’s lips quivered. “ I don’t doubt that, 
Kwasind. It is only that you are so strong that it’s 
not easy for you to understand how weak I am. But 
I’ll go. You don’t care if I wear a veil? ” 

“ Not if you wear two. Indeed I would recom- 
mend a veil. I want you to get out every fine day 
and develop an appetite.” 

Rosalind did not enjoy that first ride; she shrank 
from the gaze of all whom they met, but she came 
back the stronger for it and it was easier to go the 
next time and the next. 

One beautiful afternoon Louise walked into town, 
to match some embroidery silks for Miss Winthrop. 
She did several errands and then sat down in the 
Plaza to chat with Mrs. Longman, a friend of the 
Winthrops whom she had come to know. When they 
rose, Louise said, 

“ I am going home by the way of the fort. One 
of my greatest delights is to go up on the ramparts 
and gaze over sea and land.” 

She had walked but a little way when she heard a 
quick step behind her, and Paul’s voice said, 


THE OLD STORY RETOLD 


197 


“ 1 was coming out of the postoffice when I saw 
you leave Mrs. Longman. So I hurried on to over- 
take you. Is the fort your destination And may 
I accompany you ? ” 

“ Of course you may. How well you know my 
habits! But I do enjoy the view from the wall. It 
will be one of the things which I shall always recall 
with delight,” and she threw her head back with the 
old impulsive gesture, just then expressive of enjoy- 
ment. 

Any mention of the Mortons’ going was never w^ell 
received by Paul. However this time he said eagerly', 
“ I’ve something to tell you. On my way into town 
I met our postman, and he gave me my letters. One 
of them was from a New York paper offering me a 
good thing. If I take it I shall have to go North 
about the first of May for a short time.” 

“ I thought it was about the book when you be- 
gan.” 

Paul smiled. “ You are more impatient than I. 
It is only a week since I confided the book manu- 
script to the express company. I am not afraid of 
its reception at the publishers ; you know I had talked 
it over with them before I came down here, and they 
had read enough of it to convince them that it was 
worth while for them to bring it out. What I am 
anxious about is the reception the reading public will 
give it next fall.” 

“ Now I know it will be popular,” Louise cried. 
“ But this offer.? Can you get away now that Mr. 
Green’s suit against you is really under way.? ” 


198 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Oil, the case can be put off. We would have 
done that anyway, as I still cherish the forlorn hope 
that the missing paper will turn up. Green tried 
to bring it about so that the case could be tried this 
spring, but not even his money could hurry our 
leisurely courts along. Oh, by the way.” 

“ What is it.? ” 

“ I heard to-day that Green and his bride had 
returned to the Alcazar. It seems that his marriage 
is not approved of by the tourist circle of society 
any more than it is by the residents of the town. 
People are indignant with Mrs. Dalton-Green for 
marrying the man who treated her young kinswoman 
so brutally. But I am wandering a long way from 
my New York order. It is a good one — money 
enough in it so that, with this suit coming on, I feel 
it would not do for me to decline it.” 

“ It will be just for the summer.? ” 

“For a year. The first three months I am to 
spend in the office of the paper. After that the 
editor in chief writes me that I can do my work where 
I please.” 

“ You had not planned to stay here all summer, 
had you .? ” 

“ No. My idea was to take a trip through Can- 
ada. I can have that after my stay in New York. 
Early in the fall I will come down here for another 
quiet winter with my books. As I told you yester- 
day, already there is a new story haunting my brain, 
asking that it be given tangible form.” 

As they came up to the old fort they crossed what 


THE OLD STORY RETOLD 


199 


had once been the moat on a bridge that had taken 
the place of the drawbridge and entered, through 
the sally-port, a wide, long hall. From a room on 
the left the old custodian looked out to give Paul a 
cordial greeting. The hall led directly to the great 
inner court around which the casemates, which had 
once done duty as barracks, dungeons, and mess- 
rooms, were ranged. From there a picturesque stair- 
way, which had replaced an inclined plane for artil- 
lery, led to the wide ramparts. 

There Paul and Louise found several persons walk- 
ing about. The young couple took several turns 
across the width of the ramparts, then sat down in a 
shaded nook of the walls. The girl turned seaward, 
gazing out across the bay and the island to where 
the deep blue expanse of the Atlantic gleamed. After 
a little her eyes fell, resting on the massive wall. 

“ There is always such a wondering look in your 
eyes when you inspect Fort Marion,” Paul said with 
a laugh. 

“ I never cease to regard as wonderful the build- 
ing of these immense walls, the transporting here 
and handling of these great blocks of coquina. And 
the building was completed more than a hundred and 
fifty years ago.” 

“ Yes, and it was built by enforced labor, that of 
slaves brought over from Spain and of Indian cap- 
tives. So long a time and so much money went to 
the building that there is a tale of a Spanish king 
who said, ‘ The walls, they must be of gold.’ ” 

“ See that yacht coming in ! ” Louise cried. 


200 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ How beautiful she is ! When I sit here and watch 
the boats I find myself saying, 

“If all the ships I have at sea 
Should come a-s ailing home to me 
Weighed down with gems and wealth untold — 

Ah well! The harbor could not hold 
So many sails as there would be 
If all my ships came in from sea.” 

The girl’s face was aglow with enthusiasm. She 
had removed her hat, and the fresh breeze blew her 
hair about her brow. Paul leaned nearer her, to say, 

“ Louise, I can go farther and say with the poet 
that I have a single ship at sea whose welfare dwarfs 
all other interests for me. And you alone can de- 
cide its fate. This ship is my love for you, my desire 
to make you my wife. Dear, will that ship come 
home to the haven of a home for us together.?” 

Louise drew back, a startled look in her eyes. 
She, too, had had her dream, but it had been vague, 
shadowy. There was no one near them, and Paul’s 
hand closed over hers. 

“Dear, did I startle you? Tell me, Louise, do 
you love me ? ” 

“I — Why, I am not sure. There is mother and 
my music and your work and Rosalind. Have we 
any right to think just of ourselves? ” 

“ A perfect right, sweetheart, because together 
we can meet all these responsibilities. I am sure I 
do not need to tell you that I would not ask you to 
separate yourself from your mother. As for Rosa- 


THE OLD STORY RETOLD 


201 


lind, I will ever stand ready to second anything you 
may wish to do for her. You will be the inspiration 
for my work, and I hope I and my love may help 
you on in your musical studies.” 

Suddenly she lifted her face to him. Its brilliant 
color had faded a little; in the clear depths of her 
eyes was an appeal that quickened Paul’s breathing. 
“ It means so much ! Are you sure, sure, Paul, that 
3'ou will always be satisfied.^ ” 

“ Now don’t put it in such a cold-blooded way, my 
darling. I shall always be grateful to God for the 
great gift of your love, and I will ever strive to make 
you happy.” 

“ But, Paul, there are people — and more people,” 
as another group of tourists ascended the stairway. 
“ You must let go my hand.” 

“ What a fool a man is to tell of his love in pub- 
lic ! ” Paul murmured. “ Let us go home. It is not 
often that I have you to myself at Winthrop House, 
but surely somewhere I can find a spot where I dare 
take the kisses that are my right.” 

Notwithstanding that plea, they lingered for a lit- 
tle, too absorbed in their new happiness to wish to 
leave the spot where it had come to them. There 
was little talk of the future; its details could be set- 
tled later. 

At last the time for closing the fort to visitors ar- 
rived. Paul and Louise left the ancient structure 
and leisurely strolled towards Winthrop House. 


CHAPTER XXI 


THAT VOLUME OF BKOWNING 

I T was not until they were at the gate of Winthrop 
House that Louise asked, “ Do you mind if I tell 
mother to-night? I have never had a secret from 
her.” 

“ Why, I am going to tell her myself, and that at 
once. In a way it will hurt her, because she will 
feel that now she will have to share you with another. 
Yet your mother is so sweet and sane, dear, that I 
feel sure she will not disapprove, unless it is because 
she sees that I am not good enough for you.” 

“ O Paul ! I am not good ! Mother likes and re- 
spects you. And, Paul, she knows what love is. 
All through my girlhood she has told me that her 
prayer was that some day God would bless me with a 
love as perfect as my father’s was for her.” 

The man’s strong face grew tender. 

“ May God help me to make my life an answer to 
that prayer ! ” he said. 

When they entered the house they found Mrs. 
Morton reading aloud to Miss Patty, who was mak- 
ing, with a tiny ivory shuttle, a bit of fine tatting. 
Both ladies looked up, and Miss Winthrop said, 
“Then you did not see Maurice? He took Rosa- 
lind out in the car, and he said they would probably 
meet you two and take you in,” 


THAT VOLUME OF BROWNING 203 


“ We were at the fort and came home that way,” 
Paul said. 

Mrs. Morton’s eyes were keener than Miss Patty’s, 
and looking straight into her daughter’s face, the 
widow caught her breath and asked, “ Louise, daugh- 
ter, what is it? ” 

Paul led the girl to her mother’s side, saying, “ It 
is the old story, madam, the one so many times re- 
told. I love Louise and have asked her to be my 
wife. Can you give us your blessing? Can you 
trust her with me? ” 

Louise had dropped on her knees to hide her face 
in her mother’s lap. Paul knelt down at her side, 
again saying, “ Can you trust her with me? I will 
do my best to be worthy of her.” 

Long and steadily Mary Morton looked into his 
eyes. When she spoke, it was to her daughter rather 
than to Paul. “ Tell me, dear, do you love him ? ” 

“ Yes, Mother. I did not know, I was not sure, 
until to-day, but now I know that I love him.” 

“ May God bless you both ! Paul, I feel that I 
can trust you with my only child, my one treasure. 
Be good to her: it means so very much to a woman.” 

“ I promise. Even now I must tell you that the 
new love, precious as it is, is not to make me selfish. 
You are never to be- separated from Louise — 
Mother.” 

He said the last word in a half-whisper. Mrs. 
IMorton stooped and kissed his forehead. Then 
Paul sprang up and tunied to Miss Winthrop. 

“ Aunt Patty, dear, I cannot be happy without 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


S04f 

your blessing; you have always been and always will 
be a part of my home life. Will you take Louise to 
your heart and love her as my wdfe.-^ ” 

“ I’ve done that already,” Miss Patty said brok- 
enly, hiding her face on her nephew’s shoulder. 
“ Paul, I began to pray for this not long after 
Louise came here, but you have tried me terribly.” 

“ I ? Why, Aunt Patty, how is that ? ” 

“ You could so easily have answered my prayers, 
and yet you talked to Louise of books and of flowers 
and of our old city’s ruins. Louise, I will be so glad 
to keep you here as Paul’s wife and as mistress of 
this dear old home. You are one of the few, the 
very few, girls good enough for my boy.” 

“Now just listen to that!” Paul cried gayly. 
“ Aunt Patty is nervous. On the few times before 
when she has mentioned my extraordinary worth I 
have been sent out of the room.” 

Just then they heard the automobile enter the 
grounds, and Paul went out to help Rosalind in, 
while Louise ran up stairs, first saying to her mother, 

“ Come up with me, please : there is so much I 
want to tell you.” 

Paul went with his cousin out to the garage. 
When the car was in its place Paul laid his hand on 
Maurice’s arm. 

“ Sit down here on the step for a minute with me, 
old man. I’ve something to tell you, something 
good, and you know we have always shared our joys 
and sorrows.” 

Maurice pressed his cousin’s arm. 


THAT VOLUME OF BROWNING 205 


“ Wliat haven’t you shared with me, Paul ? ” he 
said with an affectionate look into the other’s face. 
“ Just now, it is your home, as fully, freely as if it 
were my own. I appreciate it all, if my tongue is 
slow to speak. What is it you have to tell me ? ” 

“ That Louise Morton has promised to be my 
wife.” 

There was a moment’s silence. The sun was ap- 
proaching the western horizon, and its ruddy light 
fell directly upon Maurice’s face. He was silent so 
long that Paul asked, 

“Haven’t you anything to say, old fellow.? You 
must have come to see what a treasure she is.” 

“ Yes, I have, and I wish you both all happiness. 
I am not greatly surprised ; Aunt Patty has been 
talking about this to me for six weeks. Dear Aunt 
Patty! I know you too well to need any assurance 
that this will make no difference in her life.” 

“ Indeed it shall not ; Louise would not want that. 
I think we must live at the North for part of the 
year; but Wlnthrop House shall be kept open as it 
has been, and it is ever to be the home of Aunt Patty 
and yourself.” 

“ Thank you, Paul. Some day I am going to have 
a home of my own. I begin to see the Avay opening 
now, especially since Green tried to get me turned 
out of the hospital and failed.” 

“What’s that.?” Paul demanded. “You don’t 
mean to say that Green was mean enough, because 
of his quarrel with me, to try to oust you from your 
position.? ” 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


SOC) 

“ The quarrel concerning the money is our quarrel, 
please remember. As I have for years shared the 
benefits of Winthrop House, why should I not share 
any trouble that arises? But I think Green’s at- 
tack on me was because I espoused Rosalind’s cause. 
It was to Myers he went, because he knew of Myers’ 
influence in making the hospital appointments.” 

“ Now that’s not so bad. Myers is above re- 
proach. He would never consider a charge against 
a man unless it was well substantiated. Then he has 
known you all your life and was father’s friend.” 

“ He is, mine, too, a friend of whom I am most 
proud. It was Myers himself who told me of 
Green’s effort to have me turned out. The fool 1 
He didn’t know Myers very well or he w'ould never 
have offered him money.” 

“ You don’t mean that Green tried to bribe 
Myers 1 ” Paul exclaimed. 

“ Well, I reckon he would not put it that way. 
It was his interest in the hospital that prompted him 
to offer a thousand dollars for its running expenses, 
with the recommendation that some doctor of ex- 
perience and ability be put In my place.” 

Paul’s eyes twinkled. “ Wish I could have heard 
the reply IMyers made.” 

“ He began with declining the money. The hos- 
pital is In need of funds, but the management must 
have a free hand; there must not be any dictation 
from outsiders. Then Myers said he told Green 
that the management was well pleased with my work 


THAT VOLUME OF BROWNING S07 


in the hospital, and that personally he approved of 
the stand we took in the case of Miss Huff.” 

“ Good ! I am glad you are succeeding here, 
IMaurice! And that’s a decided rebuff for Green and 
his underhand methods.” 

The two young men walked back to the house to- 
gether. Maurice was glad for the happiness that 
had come to his cousin, but he said to himself, 

“ I would have liked it better if Paul had put off 
the declaration for a fortnight. It may force me to 
show my hand before I am quite ready. And I want 
to be sure.” 

Rosalind was much surprised and a little dis- 
pleased to hear of Louise’s engagement. 

“ Now I don’t want to hear anything more about 
marrying,” she declared with a petulant toss of her 
head. “ I should have thought, Louise, that my ex- 
ample and Cousin Myra’s would have proved to you 
that the only really sensible women are those who live 
like dear Miss Patty.” 

“ But I thought you liked Paul,” and Louise’s 
color deepened. “ I am very happy, dear.” 

“ Paul Winthrop is all well enough, only he 
doesn’t compare for a moment with his cousin 
Maurice.” Then the girl’s mood changed, and the 
brilliancy of her black eyes was softened by sudden 
tears. “Happy! You are one of the rare souls 
who deserve it. God keep you safe from life’s 
storms ! May you never have to learn your life’s 
lesson as I am learning mine I ” 


208 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Louise soothed and petted her. A few moments 
later Rosalind asked, 

“ Will you stay on here, Louise.^ How delightful 
it will be for you in this dear old home I ” 

“ No. Mother and I will return to Detroit as W’e 
had planned. We will furnish our little flat and 
spend the summer there, filling the days with my 
music and the preparation for our coming here. 
When Paul has finished his work in New York I am 
to go with him on his Canadian trip. Then in the 
early autumn we will all come down here for the 
winter.” 

“O Louise! I am so glad for jmu! You know 
just what your life is to be. And I am waiting and 
trusting. It’s that last that makes the first endur- 
able.” 

On the morning of the day following their engage- 
ment Paul carried Louise away with him to the 
library after breakfast. 

“ But you must write ! ” she remonstrated. 

“ Now, Louise, I am going to have a half-holiday. 
There are so many things I want to talk over with 
you. For one thing, now that I am sure you love 
me, I want to talk over all the things we have dis- 
cussed before and view them in the light of our new 
community of interests. Then there are all the 
things we have never talked about.” 

A merry laugh rippled from the girl’s lips. She 
had seated herself in a high-backed mahogany chair 
that stood at one side of the book-heaped table. 


THAT VOLUME OF BROWNING 209 


Paul pushed the books aside so that he might sit on 
the table and asked in an injured voice, 

“ Why do you laugh? Don’t you like to talk to 
me? ” 

“ I am still in the stage where I like best to have 
you talk to me,” she admitted. “ I laughed because 
you had found so many things that needed discussing. 
Then we will love to read together, especially in this 
dear old room that must hold for you so many sacred 
memories.” 

“ You are right. I can see my father seated by 
that window, his stately gray head bent over the 
book in his hand. He was a devoted lover of the 
poets. That last day when Green came to see him 
he was reading Browning. I remember how he 
quoted something about there being no lost good. 
I wish I could recall that quotation.” 

“ I think it must have been from the poem ‘ Abt 
Vogler.’ Perhaps I can find it for you. Paul!” 

“ What is it, dear ? I like the way you speak my 
name.” 

“ Thank you. When I first came here you spoke 
about taking me up to your father’s room to see his 
collection of books about Florida. It has been 
spoken of several times since, but I have never seen 
the books. If you are not going to write this morn- 
ing, why cannot we go up and look them over? ” 

“ That’s the very thing ! ” and Paul led the way up 
stairs, stopping before a door that opened into a 
front room. 


210 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ There are so many sleeping-rooms up here that 
it has never been necessary to use this, and Aunt 
Patty likes to keep it just as it was when he was 
.with us.” 

He made his way across the floor in the semi-gloom 
and drew up the window-shades. Louise advanced 
to his side, slipping her hand into his. For a mo- 
ment the two stood in silence, looking about them. 

The room was large and its furniture simple and 
in good taste. A writing-table stood between two 
windows. Near it was a small bookcase, its shelves 
and top crowded. Before the case stood a cush- 
ioned arm-chair. 

“ Sit down here, Louise. No one but myself has 
sat here since he left the room. Dear old father ! 
I wish he could have known you ! ” 

“ How you must have missed him 1 Miss Patty 
has talked to me of him a great many times.” 

A little later they turned to the books. Some of 
them were old, rare copies that had been published 
long before. The lovers dipped into first one vol- 
ume and then another, reading a few lines aloud. 
Paul called the girl’s attention to a copy of Harriet 
Beecher Stowe’s “ Palmetto Leaves,” a collection of 
charming sketches of Florida life. Then he went on 
to tell her that years before his father had once been 
a guest of the Stowes at their winter home at Man- 
darin on the St. John’s River. 

“ Why, I did not know that Sidney Lanier ever 
wrote prose ! ” Louise exclaimed a moment later. 
“ Really, Paul, I am not surprised that the book did 


THAT VOLUME OF BROWNING 211 


not come to be well known; its title is too unwieldy 
— ‘ Florida, its Scenery, History and Climate.’ O 
Paul ! There are so many marked passages ! ” 

“Yes; father was a great admirer of Lanier.” 

“ Listen to this. He is describing the east wind 
at St. Augustine, and he says it is ‘ as bland as a 
baby’s breath — the Gulf Stream’s baby, a sweet and 
saintly wind that is more soothing than a calm would 
be.’ ” 

A few moments later Louise took a book from the 
top of the case. One look at it, and she asked, “ Is 
this the copy of Browning your father used those 
last days.? ” 

“ Yes. It was a favorite of his ; so often I re- 
member seeing it in his hands. My mother gave it 
to him.” 

Louise fluttered the leaves for a minute, then said, 
“ Here it is, Paul. Is not this the quotation you 
meant? ” and in her soft musical voice she read: 

“ There shall never be one lost good ! What was shall 
live as before; 

The evil is null, is naught, is silence implying 
sound : 

What was good, shall be good, with, for evil, so much 
good more; 

On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven a perfect 
round. 

“ That is it. My noble father ! All his life he 
served the good. What is that bit of paper he used 
for a mark ? ” 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


21 ^ 

Louise turned the piece of paper over. An ex- 
clamation escaped her lips, and she bent her head 
as if she was not sure of her sight. Her face was 
so changed that Paul asked, 

“ What is it, Louise.'* ” 

“ See, Paul I It is — it must be — Thomas 
Green’s receipt for the money your father paid him.” 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE OVERTHROW OF GREEN 

P AUL caught the paper from his betrothed’s 
hand, and as he fastened his eyes on it his face 
grew so pale that unconsciously Louise put her hand 
on his arm as if to support him. 

“Is it.? Am I right.?” she asked. Then, as he 
did not answer, she turned to leave the room, saying, 
“ Shall I call Maurice.?” 

“ No, no, Louise ! I do not want any one but 
you, not just yet. Darling, it is the missing re- 
ceipt ! ” 

“ I am glad, so glad,” and she clung to his arm, 
tears and smiles contending for the mastery. 

Paul’s nature was stirred to its depths. Instinc- 
tively Louise knew that it was not so much the free- 
dom from the debt or even the proving of the charge 
that he had brought against Green that so moved 
her lover. Paul felt that his father’s memory was 
freed from even an imaginary stain. After a mo- 
ment the young man gently put Louise into his 
father’s chair and himself sat down on the arm. 

“ Louise, after Green’s starting a suit against me, 
I am sure the producing of this receipt, and the 
story of his denying that he ever gave it, would con- 
vict him of an attempt to defraud. I shall not try 
213 


214 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


to prove those charges against him in court, but I 
shall make known, I think through the press, the 
story of the finding of this paper. It is not that I 
am vindictive, but — ” 

He stopped, looking questioningly at Louise. 
She nodded her head and nestled against his arm, 
saying, 

“ I think I understand your motive, Paul. Did 
not Mr. Green assume either that you were trying to 
deceive him or that jmur father had deceived you 
about the money ? ” 

“ That last is it. Green knew me so little that 
he thought I would prefer to have him blacken 
my father’s character rather than my own. It was 
known at the bank here and by those with whom 
father had had business transactions that he had 
gathered in that sum of money. The bank records 
show when I drew it out for him. Green tried to 
carry the idea that my father had in some underhand 
way contracted other debts, and that the thirty 
thousand dollars went to pay them. 

“ Father was known and loved here, and his friends 
knew that he w'as incapable of anything that savored 
of dishonesty. But no such story can be circulated 
about a man, no matter how well known his upright- 
ness is, but it is repeated and believed by some. 
This insinuation of Green’s has, in a way, tarnished 
my father’s memory, and I shall do all I can to show 
to the world its falseness.” 

“ I am so glad for him, and for you too, Paul 1 ” 

“ So am I — glad and thankful. My not having 


THE OVERTHROW OF GREEN 215 


to pay this debt the second time lifts a burden from 
my shoulders. Doubtless to a man of Green’s wealth 
thirty thousand dollars seems like a small sum, but 
it is pretty large to me. If I can leave the remainder 
of my father’s property in this region undisturbed it 
will be easy for me to keep Winthrop House open as 
a home for Aunt Patty and IVIaurice the year around 
and a winter home for us and your mother.” 

A few moments later Louise started up, saying, 
“Are we not a little selfish? Think how glad your 
aunt and cousin will be to hear this news ! ” 

“ We have you and your love for and knowledge of 
poetry to thank for it. Father was doubtless read- 
ing the book when Green arrived. It must be that 
when he came up stairs he carried it with him and 
used the receipt to mark his place in the volume. He 
had already become forgetful, and I presume did not 
realize that he had not put the paper in his desk. 
Now we will tell Aunt Patty.” 

IMiss Winthrop was overjoyed. Glad tears ran 
down her face. “ I ought to have known enough to 
look in that book myself,” she announced. “ Now, 
Paul, I can feel safe. The fear that this dear old 
home would pass into the hands of strangers has been 
torture to me.” 

“ But I promised you that should never be. Aunt 
Patty.” 

“ Sometimes debt crushes a man’s will to the 
earth. And to think that that wretch dared doubt 
the word of my brother — a man so far above him 
that Green could not comprehend his nature,” 


216 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


They were still talking about the alFair when 
Maurice came home to dinner, and when the young 
physician heard the story he caught Louise in his 
arms and went waltzing up and down the hall with 
her. 

“ Hurrah I What a wife you’ll make when you 
save your husband-to-be such a sum the second day 
of your engagement! I’m glad, glad! Won’t 
Green get redder than ever in the face? I say, 
Paul? ” 

“ Yes, old fellow? ” 

“ I want to ask a favor of you.” 

“ Out with it. Just now I am in the position and 
the mood to be generous.” 

“ Let me be present when you tell Green of your 
discovery. Now I am not as high-minded as you 
are, and I want to see him squirm. You will tell 
him yourself? ” 

It was a moment before Paul replied to that ques- 
tion, then suddenly he straightened up and exclaimed, 
“ Yes, I will, and that this very day, if I can get an 
interview with him. I’ll be glad to have you with me. 
We will summon him to Lane’s office. And that re- 
minds me that I must telephone Lane and tell him 
of our good fortune.” 

As the cousins sat in the lawyer’s private office that 
afternoon waiting for Green to appear Dick Lane 
said, “ At first when I called up Green he was inclined 
to be offish. He said the case had gone into the court 
and he could not see any reason wdiy he should be 
asked to meet you. I told him he could do as he 


THE OVERTHROW OF GREEN 217 


pleased, but that he would regret declining your invi- 
tation.” 

“ You gave him no hint of what he was to hear? ” 

“No. I merely excited his curiosity; Green is 
as curious as an old woman. Then, deep down in 
his heart, there must have been all the time the fear 
that the receipt would be found. That was the rea- 
son he delayed so long bringing the suit.” 

Maurice leaned back in his chair, looking from 
one of his companions to the other, remarking 
meditatively, “ Say, fellows, it never really pays a 
man to be dishonest. Think of waking up, morning 
after morning, to know that you are a thief and a 
liar!” 

Lane shrugged his shoulders. “ In Green’s case 
the mornings so long ago grew into months and years 
that he has become accustomed to the fact.” 

As the hour struck three Green came in looking 
anything but pleasant. Things were not going well 
with him. Since his return with his bride to St. 
Augustine there had been several quiet but unmistak- 
able social snubs. Then he saw that the public had 
come to doubt his loud-voiced claim that he was 
interested in the city’s prosperity. In several in- 
stances his eagerness to add to his own wealth, no 
matter how, had become apparent. 

There was no interchange of courtesies. The law- 
yer pointed to a chair, saying, 

“Will you be seated, Mr. Green? Mr. .Winthrop 
has something to communicate to you, something that 
may be a surprise.” 


218 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Green looked over at the young author, an ex- 
pression on his face that was not good to see. “ So 
you have come to your senses, have you? Well, it’s 
too late for you to get the rake-off I offered. How- 
ever I am willing to save you a round sum in costs. 
I’ll do that, not to help you, but to save myself 
trouble.” 

“ I think my proposition is slightly different from 
what you have in mind, but in one respect you are 
right — it will save trouble,” and Paul fastened a 
penetrating gaze on the man opposite him. “ Par- 
don me if the questions I ask are repetitions of those 
3mu have already answered. I wish you would tell 
me the details of that last interview you had with 
my father as you remember them.” 

“ Now what is the use of going over all of that 
again? As I’ve said before, your father just made 
promises. Said he would pay me when he could.” 

The last sentence was said ^slowly, in a halting 
voice. Green was vaguely uncomfortable. He 
would be glad to have the case settled in any way, for 
that would do away with his fear that the missing 
paper might be' found. 

“ What was my father doing when you entered the 
library?” 

“ I presume he had been reading. As I remember, 
he had a book in his hand when he rose to greet me.” 

“ You do not remember what the book was? ” 

“ See here, Winthrop ! What are you getting at ? 
I’ve something else to do besides keep track of other 
men’s reading. If your father had read less and 


THE OVERTHROW OF GREEN 219 


tended to business more, perhaps he would not have 
left you in this fix.” 

“ My father’s mistake was not in his devotion to 
books, but in assuming that his business associates 
were as upright as himself,” Paul said gravely. 
“ Green, do you again deny that during this in- 
terview my father paid you thirty thousand dol- 
lars ? ” 

“What is the use of your asking that? You 
know your father lied about it. The suit I have — ” 

He went no further. Paul had leaped to his feet, 
hut Dick Lane caught the young man’s arm in a 
grip that stopped him. 

“ He’s not worth your anger, Paul.” 

“ Perhaps not, but he will take back that state- 
ment that my father lied, or I’ll take him down on 
the street and thrash him publicly,” Paul declared, 
his face white with rage. “ You’ve insinuated that 
several times before, Thomas Green, but you never 
dared say it. Now I am going to force you to admit 
that it was you w’ho lied.” 

Paul’s voice had returned to its natural key. He 
drew a note book from his pocket, extracting from it 
the sheet of paper that had so long been lost. It 
■was to his cousin that he spoke. “ I am not going 
to trust it in his hands, Maurice. You watch him, 
and, if he offers to touch it — well. I’ll not need to 
tell you what to do.” 

“ Indeed you’ll not, and I’ll do it with pleasure,” 
Maurice cried, springing to his feet. 

Paul held the paper where Green’s eyes could rest 


220 PAYING THE PRICE! 

upon it. “ What do you say to that, Thomas 
Green.? ” 

For a moment there was silence in the room. The 
windows, overlooking the Plaza, were open, and the 
sweet, musical laughter of a child was distinctly 
heard. Green’s face flushed a dull purple. Then 
slowly the color receded, leaving his cheeks an ashen 
gray. Twice he attempted to speak, but no sound 
came from his lips. At last he gasped, 

“Heavens, where did that come from.?” 

“ Now take back your words accusing my father of 
lying ! Take them back this moment ! ” Paul said in 
the slow, cold voice of anger that had passed the first 
heat of passion. 

Thomas Green cowered down in his chair ; he knew 
that he was beaten. It was not the first time that 
he had been obliged to eat his own words, and even 
in that moment he thought more of how he was going 
to prevent the affair from hurting him than he did 
of the shame of owning that he had lied. 

“ Do you refuse to take back your words .? ” Paul 
demanded. 

“No. Your father did not lie. I — well, Win- 
throp, there is no use of talking about this. I will 
withdraw the suit. Every man has his price, and 
I’ll pay yours. Tell me how much you will take 
never to mention finding the receipt.” 

Again the lawyer caught Paul’s arm, and it was 
Maurice who sprang in front of the cowering man, 
exclaiming scornfully, 

“You coward! Don’t you know that all men are 


THE OVERTHROW OF GREEN 


not like you ! Haven’t you learned that a Winthrop 
cannot be bought ! ” 

“ But if this matter is taken into court it — ” 
Green stopped, beads of perspiration visible on his 
forehead. 

“ It may mean a term of years in the penitentiary 
for you if I push the case,” Paul said gravely. “ I’ll 
not do that, Mr. Green, on one condition. That is, 
that as soon as possible after withdrawing this il- 
legal and unjust suit, you leave St. Augustine for- 
ever. You are to settle up your business affairs and 
go. Wait a moment; I have not finished. To-mor- 
row’s Record will contain a full account of the finding 
of the lost receipt, thus proving to the public that 
both my father and I told the truth.” 

“ But it will ruin my reputation here, and suit may 
be brought against me.” 

“ I will not bring it if you do as I say. That is 
all the promise I can make.” 

For a time Green blustered. When he came 
to fully realize his position, he begged. At last Paul 
rose. 

“ Do just as you please. I am going over to the 
Record office now with my story. I shall expect you 
to withdraw the suit to-morrow, unless you prefer to 
let it come to trial. If you are here in a week’s time, 
I shall begin proceedings against you for attempted 
fraud,” and he walked out of the room. 

Maurice lingered a moment. He could not re- 
frain from saying, “ It really doesn’t pay to be a 
rogue. Green. Paul let you off easy. When you 


222 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


recall all that has taken place here this winter and 
the opinion it has given people of you, I should think 
you would be glad to leave St. Augustine.” 

Thomas Green made no reply. He was angry, but 
for once his fear exceeded liis anger; he knew too 
w'ell what an exposure of his business affairs would 
mean. As he hurried away from the lawyer’s office 
he vowed to himself that he would leave St. Augus- 
tine as soon as possible and never again set foot in 
the town. 

Paul kept his word ; the next evening’s paper con- 
tained a full account of the finding, in a volume of 
Browning’s poems, the receipt for thirty thousand 
dollars that had been given by Thomas Green two 
years before to the senior Mr. Winthrop. There 
was no comment on the story save that, as the giving 
of the receipt had been denied and the word of Mr. 
Winthrop had been doubted, this means of vindica- 
tion had been taken. 

There was much discussion of the matter, espe- 
cially by the residents of the town. Among the 
Winthrops’ friends there was sincere rejoicing. 
Others were glad to know that Green had been 
worsted. 

Before the paper was issued Thomas Green and his 
wife had left the city. They went northward, but 
their destination was not known. Dick Lane learned 
that Green had put his St. Augustine real estate into 
a lawyer’s hands for sale, and the man had been au- 
thorized to accept any reasonable offers. 

To the surprise of all the inmates of Winthrop 


THE OVERTHROW OF GREEN ‘ 223 


House Rosalind received a letter from her cousin. 
It had been written at the Alcazar and evidently 
mailed just before the Greens took the train. The 
bride intimated that she was not finding her married 
life an ideal one. She soundly rated Paul Winthrop 
for driving them away from St. Augustine. In con- 
clusion she gave a Washington address and asked 
Rosalind to let her know what she decided to do. 

The girl read the letter through, then handed it 
to Mrs. Morton, saying with a sigh, “ Poor Cousin 
Myra. It may seem strange for me to pity her, but 
she will surely be unhappy.” 

Mrs. Morton paused as she turned the sheets to 
say, “ Your cousin refuses to see that there are bet- 
ter things than dress and jewels. She clings to her 
mistaken ideals. Emerson says, ‘ We cannot let our 
angels go. We cannot see that they go out, that 
archangels may come in.’ ” 

Rosalind sighed again. “ So it may be that my 
old charms have gone, to give place to love for the 
true and to helpful thoughts of others. I try to wel- 
come them, but life is not easy for me.” 

“ I know, dear girl ; you do bravely. And it will 
not be long now before we will be going North and 
in new scenes you will forget much of the pain and 
bitterness. I shall want you for my daughter now, 
especially after Louise goes.” 

“ But I must wait — ” Rosalind began, then 
stopped. She said no more, and Mrs. Morton went 
back to her letter with a little sigh. 

Both Louise and her mother had come to feel that 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


2S4 

it was time definite plans for Rosalind’s future were 
being made. 

One afternoon Paul and Louise went out in the 
sail-boat, Miss Patty was at a missionary meeting, 
and Mrs. Morton and ’Rosalind were seated in the 
back parlor, the girl reading aloud while her compan- 
ion embroidered, Avhen from where she sat Mrs. Mor- 
ton saw IMaurice coming up the street. At once she 
rose, saying, 

“ Excuse me, dear. There is something I must 
see about. You rest while I am gone.” 

“ Very well,” and Rosalind leaned back among her 
cushions, closing her eyes. 

Mrs. Mortoi) went swdftly along the hall, meeting 
Maurice at the front steps, 

“ There is something I w^ant to talk to you about. 
Doctor Winthrop,” she said in a low voice, “ and I 
do not w'ant Rosalind to know that you have re- 
turned. Will you come out to the summerhouse with 
me ? ” 

Maurice Winthrop compressed his lips. There 
was only one subject this sweet-faced wmman could 
want to discuss with him without Rosalind’s knowl- 
edge, and that was the girl’s future. Why could 
they not wait his time.? Why could they not trust 
him, as Rosalind did? Then, as he w'alked at Mrs. 
Morton’s side, his face softened. Rosalind’s friends 
had a right to know what it was that he was plan- 
ning for her. The girl herself had been contented 
w'ith his promise, but perhaps the time had come when 
she must be told. 


CHAPTER XXIII 
Maurice’s way out 


T he summerhouse was a low rustic structure 
overgrown with honeysuckle vines. Within 
there were several seats and a table. Maurice placed 
a chair for Mrs. Morton just inside the door. Then 
he sat down, and for a moment no words were spoken. 
The light was dim in contrast with the bright sun- 
shine outside and strangely tinged with the green of 
the clambering vines. It was Maurice’s voice that 
broke the silence, asking, 

“ What was it you wanted to talk to me about, 
Mrs. Morton? ” 

“ Rosalind,” she said calmly, looking over at him. 
“ I am sure. Doctor Winthrop, you know how much 
the poor girl’s friends appreciate all that you have 
done for her, how very grateful we feel. But now 
we must consider the future. I am planning to take 
her home with me. Louise and I will gladly assume 
her care until she is able to do for herself ; then we 
will help her fit herself for her future. But when- 
ever we approach her on the subject she declares that 
she can make no arrangements until she has learned 
what you meant by promising to find what you called 
‘ a way out ’ of her troubles.” 

She paused and looked tentatively over at the doc- 
tor as if Inviting him to make an explanation, 
225 


226 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


Maurice leaned one elbow on the table, resting his 
head on his hand, thus hiding his face from iMrs. 
Morton’s gaze. She went on, her words hurried a 
little, as if she was growing impatient. 

“ Perhaps when you made that vague promise, 
which so strongly impressed Rosalind, you did it 
only to quiet her. If you have any plan for her. 
Doctor Winthrop, anything like her entering an in- 
stitution or remaining on here with your aunt, as 
Paul suggests, I think it due to me, as Rosalind’s 
friend, that you should talk it over with me.” 

“ You are right, Mrs. Morton.” Maurice rose, 
and as he stepped into the square of sunlight out- 
lined by the doorway she saw that he was very pale. 
“ I meant every word I said to Rosalind. My way 
out of her trouble is the safest one for her, one that, 
if all is well, will lead to happiness. You have a 
right to know about it, but before I discuss it with 
you I must talk it over with Rosalind herself.” 

“ But if she refuses ? Then you will approve of 
her going home with me ? ” 

“ She must not refuse — I almost said she shall 
not. I will go to her at once. Is she in the back 
parlor? ” 

“ Yes, and there is no one else in the house. Go 
in and talk it over with her. Then you can tell me.” 

Maurice turned around and walked away without 
speaking again. His breath came quickly and his 
hands were clenched. Much depended on the coming 
interview. 

On the threshold of the back parlor he paused, 


MAURICE’S WAY OUT 


227 


looking in. Rosalind lay back among the cushions 
that filled a big Morris chair, asleep. She wore a 
plain white linen dress. The square-cut neck showed 
her beautiful throat, and one arm was thrown above 
her head. The young man moved nearer, a smile 
hidden by his drooping mustache. Just then the 
long, jetty lashes lifted, and the girl laughed up in 
his face. 

“ Kwasind, my very strong man, how did you come 
straight out of dreamland into reality ? ” 

“Were you dreaming of me, little girl?” 

“ Yes. I thought we were in a tiny boat, sailing 
straight out into an amber and golden sunrise, and 
my heart was as light as the breeze that fluttered 
my hair.” 

“ That is good, and I hope the reality will be as 
glad as the dream. Will you go up stairs to the bal- 
cony with me? I have something to tell you, and I 
want to go where we will not be disturbed.” 

“ Now if it was any one but you I should be 
alarmed,” and she reached for her crutches. 

“ Take my arm instead. There is no need for the 
crutches.” 

Carefully he aided her in ascending the stairs. 
They traversed the upper hall to the balcony, just 
then cool and shady. Maurice put the girl in one 
comer of a wicker settee, surrounded her with cush- 
ions, and sat down by her side. His silence lasted so 
long that she looked up to ask, ^ 

“What is it you have to tell me? How serious 
you look ! It — it is the way ? ” 


228 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Yes, Rosalind. Look straight at me and tell me 
one thing before I speak. Do you trust me enough 
to do my bidding unquestioningly ? ” 

“ Yes, Kwasind.” 

His face grew tender and he laid one hand over 
hers. “ You have shown me complete confidence, for 
you have refrained from the questions it would have 
been only natural for you to ask. Rosalind, I have 
tried hard to be worthy of your confidence.” 

“You.? Why, you didn’t need to try, for you 
were worthy. Doctor Winthrop, I should never have 
regained my strength if it had not been that you in- 
spired me with a sense of security. I was so afraid! 
Sometimes now when I look ahead and think of the 
weary years without you, I am sick. But, because 
I trust you, I drive such thoughts from my mind.” 

“ Rosalind, there are to be no weary years without 
me. Dear, I have grown to love you. My way out 
of your loneliness and dependence is a simple one. 
You are to stay on here as my wife and make me 
happy.” 

The faint rose color faded from the girl’s face ; it 
grew white and drawn, as if breathed upon by some 
withering blast. “ Marry ! Me marry anybody ! 
Me, scarred, crippled, disgraced! O Kwasind, I did 
not look for such a blow from you ! ” 

She had drawn herself away from him, crouching 
in the corner of the settee, shivering, sobbing. 
Maurice bent over her, taking her reluctant hands in 
his. 

“ Rosalind, listen to me. Have I ever failed you? 


MAURICE’S WAY OUT 


229 


The idea of marriage shocked you, because it is so 
unexpected. To me your face, with that faint scar, 
is the sweetest thing in the world. Your lameness 
will be only another excuse for me to lavish tender- 
ness on you. As for your being disgraced, it is 
well it was you who said that, and not another.” 

“ You don’t understand ! ” she cried fiercely. “ It 
is not so much that Thomas Green threw me over, 
letting all the city know that it was only because he 
looked upon me as an ornament to his home that he 
Avanted to marry me. That is bad enough, but what 
came before was worse : that I was willing to engage 
myself to that man because of what it would bring 
to me. Don’t you see that I am low, false O 
Kwasind! it is just because you pity me.” 

“ Not that, dear. Rosalind, I swear that I love 
you. As to your willingness to marry Green, you 
were far less to blame than Mrs. Dalton. Child, you 
never had a chance to expand your sweet, gracious 
nature in an atmosphere of love and care until you 
came here. And to me, Rosalind, you have come to 
be the dearest thing in the world.” 

“ But I would be dependent, always a drag upon 
you. You deserve a wife like Louise, beautiful, ac- 
complished, gracious.” 

“ Louise is all that and more, the very wife for 
Paul with his creative, artistic nature. But for me, 
you, my darling, my brilliant little jasmine flower 
that came so near being trampled under foo+, are 
worth more than any one else in the wide world.” 

“ What is it Oh, why did you say this to me ? ” 


230 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


“ Do not sob so, dear ; every sob makes my heart 
ache. Not once have you spoken of your feeling 
towards me. Look straight into my face and tell me 
if you love me.” 

“ I cannot do that.” 

“ Yes, Rosalind, it is my right.” 

Then she raised her face, tear-stained, agonized. 
“ I do not know. As I said before, it frightens me 
to think of living all my days without you, but I 
never thought of you this way. In these nights when 
sleep would not come I have lain for hours staring 
into the darkness, and I have settled the question of 
my life. Of course it cannot be like that of other 
wmmen. All .1 want is some quiet corner where I can 
hide aw^ay, alone, forlorn, now' that I have lost my 
friend.” 

It was in vain that he argued, reasoned, coaxed. 
At last he stood up, frowming a little. 

“ I have not given up, Rosalind, but you are too 
tired for us to talk longer. You must go to bed 
now and rest. And remember, little girl, that I have 
not forfeited my right to the confidence you once 
gave me. I swear to stand betw'een you and every 
care and sorrow.” 

Rosalind made no response. Maurice helped her 
to her room, brought her a damp towel that she might 
bathe her heated face, and insisted on her lying down 
on the bed. He drew down the shades and left the 
room. In the hall he met Miss Winthrop. 

“ Aunt Patty, let me come into your room and 
talk w'ith you a few minutes. I w'ant your help.” 


MAURICE’S WAY OUT 


231 


“ It is yours for the asking, dear boy,” and she 
led the way into the dainty, orderly room that she 
had occupied since girlhood. “ Take that chair by 
the window. Now what is it.'* ” 

“ Aunt Patty, I want to marry Rosalind.” 

“Why, Maurice!” Miss Winthrop started so 
violently that her glasses fell to the floor. As her 
nephew picked them up she asked helplessly, “ What 
do you want to do that for.'* ” 

“ Because I love her as a man never loves but one 
woman. You may say, as she does, that it was wrong 
for her to promise to marry Thomas Green, but re- 
member what her life had been, subjected to Mrs. 
Dalton and her training. See how sweet and win- 
some she has grown here, even in the shadow of that 
awful calamity ! To me she has a soul that is capable 
of wonderful development.” 

“ That is true. And she is a beautiful girl ! 
Maurice, I am glad I We can do so much — I shall 
insist on helping — for her 1 ” 

Maurice Winthrop slipped from his chair to kneel 
at his aunt’s side. “ Dear Aunt Patty ! All your 
life has been a glad doing for others. It cheers me 
to know you are on my side. You see I have Rosa- 
lind’s consent yet to win.” 

“ Why, that surprises me ; I should have said she 
was coming to care for you. I have been a little 
afraid for her, because I did not dream that you 
loved her.” 

“ I believe Rosalind does care, but she is too 
startled, too inclined to condemn herself, to see 


232 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


clearly. No, do not go to her. Rather come down 
stairs with me to tell the others.” 

Miss Patty went. Paul and Louise had just re- 
turned, and Mrs. Morton was with them in the lower 
hall. 

“ Will you all come out on the veranda, please,” 
said Maurice with a touch of anxiety in his voice. 
“ There is something I want to tell you.” 

“ How grave you look, old fellow I ” and Paul put 
his arm through that of his cousin. “ I hope it is 
not bad news ; but fortune has been so good to me of 
late that I ought to be willing to greet a rebuff from 
her with a smile.” 

“ It is no cloud on your sky that I am to an- 
nounce. Pm glad, too; for if ever a man deserved 
good fortune it is your father’s son. Take this 
chair, Aunt Patty.” 

When the ladies were seated Paul dropped down 
on the steps. Maurice remained standing, lean- 
ing against a pillar of the porch. He began at 
once. 

“ It is about Rosalind. The way out of her 
trouble that I have been planning is for her to marry 
me. She has refused. You must all help me to win 
her consent.” 

Consternation was visible on every face. Paul 
asked in a quick, impatient voice, 

“ What do you want to marry her for.-* The age 
of self-immolation is past. Besides it is not neces- 
sary for you to make a sacrifice of yourself so that 
Rosalind can be taken care of.” 


MAURICE’S WAY OUT 


233 


Maurice’s ruddy face grew white as he said tensely, 
“ You do not understand, Paul. Perhaps I did not 
put it plainly. I want to marry Rosalind because I 
love her with my whole heart. And I believe she 
cares for me, only this sad accident has warped her 
view of life.” 

“ Forgive me, Maurice,” and Paul stood up to offer 
his cousin not one but both of his hands. “ I never 
thought of this. But, whatever you do, I wish you 
well.” 

“You knew it, did you not.?” Maurice asked 
Louise. “ Of late you have always been inventing 
excuses to keep us apart.” 

“ I was blind. You see, I feared that Rosalind 
w’as learning to care for you and that in the end she 
might get a hard blow. I thought her condition and 
— and the memory of what had gone before — would 
stand in the way of your ever caring.” 

They talked for some time. Mrs. Morton’s ob- 
jections were the most stubborn of all. She said, 

“ You are both young. In the future you may 
tire of a wife like Rosalind. Hard as her fate seems 
now. Doctor Winthrop, it would be infinitely harder 
for her if she should become your wife and find, in 
the years to come, that you had both made a mis- 
take.” 

Gentle Miss Patty turned sharply on the speaker. 
“ Do you mean, Mrs. Morton, that you are afraid 
that my boy would cease to care for Rosalind if she 
became his wife.? ” 

“ Not just that, but I am afraid as time went by 


234 . 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


he might become more keenly alive to the misfortunes 
of the poor girl.” 

“ Well, Mrs. Morton, I reckon you do not know 
the Winthrops I If we are nothing else we are true, 
true even after death, as my own solitary life proves. 
I am not afraid to trust Rosalind with my boy I ” 

Tears dimmed Mrs. Morton’s eyes. • “ Do not mis- 
judge me. I would be so glad to see our poor girl 
safe in the love of a good man; but I know so well 
the beauty of a home-life where love rules that I 
shrink from seeing either of these two make a mis- 
take.” 

It was a half-hour later, and the subject had been 
discussed from every point of view, when Paul said, 
“ After all, it rests with Rosalind. Win her consent, 
Maurice, and we will all wish you joy.” 

To win Rosalind’s consent was not easy. The girl 
was afraid of herself. She asked that she might be 
excused from coming down to supper. Later Louise 
went to her room, and Rosalind said, 

“ I cannot talk. Please go down and sing and 
play for me. If you leave the doors ajar I can hear. 
Perhaps the music will help me to think ; my head is 
in a whirl.” 

All the next day she kept her room. Late in the 
afternoon Louise joined her, saying as she sat down 
by her chair, 

“ Maurice is coming up when he returns from the 
hospital. No, do not remonstrate. You have had 
twenty-four hours to think it out, and he has a right 
to hear your decision.” 


MAURICE’S WAY OUT 


235 


The crippled girl held out eager, tremulous hands 
to her friend. “ Tell me, Louise. You know, be- 
cause you love.” 

“ Yes, I know, dear. I know that love draws two 
together, not only through time and space but also 
where circumstances seem, to the outside world, un- 
accountable. Dear, let your heart answer. If you 
love Maurice — ” 

“ If I love him ! Ah, Louise dear, I never knew 
until the silent watches of last night that it was love 
which made me so safe, so happy with him. But 
there are my scarred face and my limping gait to be 
considered.” 

“ Maurice knew of them both when he learned to 
love you.” 

For a moment Rosalind clung to her friend. Then 
she whispered, “ Send him to me.” 

A fortnight later Maurice and Rosalind were mar- 
ried. The Mortons and Paul were soon to leave for 
the North, and for a time Maurice and his bride were 
to stay at Winthrop House with Miss Patty. Rosa- 
lind talked eagerly of the lessons in housewifery she 
was to have from the gentle little spinster. Later 
the young couple would have a home of their own. 
Maurice’s town practice was increasing, and he de- 
clared that he hoped to spend all his life in the 
Ancient City. 

It was a quiet wedding attended only by the fam- 
ily. Rosalind’s dress was a simple white mull, and 
her only ornaments pale yellow roses from the gar- 
den of Winthrop House. The rooms were bowers of 


236 


PAYING THE PRICE! 


bloom. It was very unlike that other wedding that 
had been planned, but Rosalind thanked God that, 
with her hand, she was giving her heart to the man 
she married. 

On the afternoon of that same day Paul and 
Louise again paced to and fro on the ramparts of 
old Fort Marion, discussing their own future. The 
girl said, 

“ There was a letter from home to-day, saying 
that I can have my old position in the church choir. 
I think I shall take it, Paul, and also have lessons 
this summer. I want to be prepared not only to be 
the wife of a successful author, but to make the most 
of the voice that God has given me.” 

“ When we spend our summers in the North you 
shall have the best instruction that New York can 
give. Here or there, we will work and study and be 
glad together.” 




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